.
JULY/AUGUST BULK RATE
U.S. POSTAGE
Vol. 3 No.5 PAID
$3.00 U.S. Funds COLTON, OR 97017
PERMIT #51
ee
| . DATED MATERIAL - TIME VALUE
| : REQUESTED MATERIAL - PLEASE FORWARD
AMERICA’S LARGEST TIMEX SINCLAIR MAGAZINE
SN.
a
STARFLEET
208
Super Summer
Issue
Something For Everyone!!
ae oe
arse
mau ae y Neu Jersey
seat He es avast 3 vo
eREAT HEY
Peet TOT
re
TOTALLY SPELLBOUND!
FOR THE 81
* Load UITH your word processor
* Several methsds avaitabile For
error notiFication— bightight ,
beep, etc.!
fidd your oun uOords— pour GL ex—
pansion is the Limit! For serious
vord processors— $43 =<
LIBERATE YOUR OL!
The BEFIHITIGE BRSIC compiler!
Compiles almost HHY SuperBasic
program vith no need For changes?
fis easy as typing LIHEERATE! It
will generate MULTITASKING code—
to BASIC! LIBERATOR
Easy to use, MANY more Features— {[
Gr order For onty:
cali or write!
64 COL. TERMINAL PROG. FORT
YOUR 2068- HO EXTRA HARD-|
STEHDER BASIC COMMARDS! VERY EASY 16 USE, I.E.-
-EPRIKT B4:SAUE “FILE.BBB"...805 TREES NO "RAN, NAT
HABE PSPEcTERN-G4 is a 64 coluan terminal cong. co cuct save BUTTON...FULLY 2068/SPECTRUN CON-
SPRTIGLE.. SUPPORTS 2 BRIVES, UP TH J60K/DISK.
SIRCLUBES INTERFACE & BOS CARTRIDCE. BISK BRIVES
SARE RURILABLE SEPERATELY CBE = Echols bs whee:
2050 modem. EASY to use, vith Full documentation. = : a - =o
35kt buffer area, 7K BASIE menu area...$34.55 pp. :
= munication program for the 2662, and
also has ZNOBEN error checking File transfers!
SPECTERN con alsa work with HARBYARE 25232 cards
te run at 1290 baud! Yorks at 200 baud with the
Nore features...call or urite!
FREE MOHEY!! 1987 ¢§ = \
CATALOG AYRILAGLE-
fl z 4 fi L E 3) ART ICGKS, é REG FORTS- CALL OR GRITE FOR ‘TENAtLs!
325 Vest Jersey Street #20 ” LGRze Umi sa ast
7282
a nee aqilbox or
THRE ff LOOK!
TRUNP CARODEE
x S96R BRAM om your 8L!
* TONY TEBBY TOGLEIT IL!
* Print Spooter
* 2 RAMNDisks CBunamic #&
Statici>
* Dual Bisk InterFace!
ALL o ’
>= GOAL FOR ORLY $299 4KKY
FORTS & JCOKS FOR:
= PISEL PRINT, THE 2068 DESKTOP POBLISHER-
i
your
phone:
0335
ree delivery service available te Manhattan
(HY, HY) addresses...call For details!
OL REPLACEMENT KEYBOARD
Ais age as
TTensgetz0i) a2? -
AVUTULAUNOUAUUEDESUAUECUUACHUUESUOUUEEGALANT fhunninueu
: The SCHOR FULL-TRAVEL sea ide
Ps ava
tlable ROU for uour QL...
Tastalls he HO SOLDERING RECESSARY- just re-
erove your GL top and replace with the SCHON top!!
mn one compact card!!! getains the look and size of your OL- but vith a
EAL typeuriter keybourd!> only $89 <
sFront Page EXTRAS
e#Ll Features of FRGHT PACE, the
S0L desktop publisher and MGRE!
Billous loading of text Files he QUILL, ae
7 a E1GR, and almost BHY ether File! FP extra auto-
For INSTANT spelling correction iiaricarty MICRO-JUSTIFIES the text! filse, 5 neu
Biype-styles. Type styles can be changed WHILE
eiext is loadiag...text loads inte columns A
Bicre Features- talt or Urite,omly
vitor OL's with EXTRA RAM ORLY!
FUTURA EXVIRONNENT ON OL*
ORANE!
Prindouing pointer utility system. Hoa-destructive
indous, stagle key pop-up nenus, FULL MULTI-
: ASKING, Super Fast RAH disk, dynanic printer buf-
fer, multi-mode screen duaps, and auch sore! Call
Cen even turn your proegrams into €,
RESIDENT procedures (nda commands @
rourite for sore info! GRAN is the environnent
of the FUIUEA...and REGUIBES @1 LEGST 256k RAN. <<
ORAM 15 ORLY $49
2068 DISK SYSTEN- $13!
HARKEN DISK INTERFACE & BOS CHRTRIDGE- WITH
ff VARIETY SALES
/ HEPARTNENT TDK-5
SEND $1 AND CET $2'SiiMcamucc2s UW. JERSEY 51. ,#20
CREDIT! FREE MOWEY! $c, ™™"** ELIZABETH, HJ 07202
4LINTT: GHE (2) $2.80 CREDIT PER PERSON.
JULY/AUGUST
Next Issue:
MAGAZINE
FOR ALL TIMEX AND
SINCLAIR COMPUTERS
TIME DESIGNS MAGAZINE CO.
29722 Hult Rd.e Colton, Oregon 97017
(503) 824-2658
CompuServe ID# 71350, 3230
TIME DESIGNS MAGAZINE is published bi-
monthly and is Copyright ©1987 by the Time
Designs Magazine Company, Colton, Oregon
97017. All rights reserved.
Editor: Tim Woods
Assistant Editor: Stephanie Woods
Editorlal Assistant/Productlon: D.L. Woods
Photography:
(unless otherwise noted): Thomas Judd
Printing by; Toad’! Litho Printing and Comp.,
Oregon City, Cregon 97045
SUBSCRIPTIONS: $16.95 a year for six issues
(US funds only). No extra charge to Canadian
subscribers. All other countries please write
for information on air mail rates.
CUSTOMER SERVICE: Customer satisfaction is
our goal. For subscription service problems
please write or call TIME DESIGNS.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS: Write or call to prevent
delay of sevice,
Reproduction of this magazine in whole or in
part by any means without written permission is
prohibited by law
“NOTICE: Contributors to TIME DESIGNS are independent
of the TIME DESIGNS MAGAZINE CO., and opinions ex-
pressed in the contents of the magazine are notnecessarily
those of the management or its advertisers. Time Designs
Magazine Co. willnot be held iiable for any damage or conse-
quences resulting from instructions, assertions of fact,
review of products or companies provided in the magazine's
content."
Desktop Publishing
Renew Your
Subscription Today!
Vol.3 No.5
EDITOR’S FORUM
It's very hard to think about doing anything con-
structive with your computer during the summer when so
many other things confront you that are much more
appealing. But never-the-less, I usually use this time
of the year to work on one particular project. Something
to keep the fingers limber--the brain from going stale,
anything to prevent having. to re-learn even the simplest
procedures by the time "indoor" weather comes around
again.
On this thought, I've compiled a list of some
suggested summer computer projects:
1. "Key-in" (and de-bug) one of those extra long
program listings that have appeared in TDM or other pub-
lications.
2. Make one of Tim Stoddard's modifications to your
computer, or build a kit. (Note: If you don't have ex-
perience in this area, get help from someone who does.)
3. Buy your computer a present. How about a disk
drive system or new 80 col. printer? Familiarize your-
self with the DOS (Disk Operating System), or all of the
features of the printer.
4. Tackle Syd Wyncoop's series on 2Z80 Machine Code
in TDM (the first lesson is in the March/April '86
issue).
5. Explore a field of interest you are not familiar
with, such as word processing, another computer language
(FORTH, PASCAL, C, etc.), computer graphics, artificial
intelligence, and telecommunications.
6. Write a program.
If your feeling very ambitious this Summer, you
could also join a computer club, start your own Sinclair
user group, revitalize the one your already a member of,
start a BBS, and even organize a local Sinclair computer
fair.
I would be interested to hear what you came up with
this summer. If you have a tip or short program to share
with others, send it in, and I'll print as many as
possible in an upcoming issue.
A lot of news items have been filtering across my
desk lately, and I'll try to keep you posted in the "For
Your Sinclair" section. The TS world does not’ stand
still. Many of you already know that the fine British
magazine, ZX COMPUTING MONTHLY, is no longer being pub-
lished. We here at TDM, feel this has created a_ real
void for "serious" Sinclair computer users in the U.K.
Plans are being carried out presently to unite what we
are doing over here, with this international community
and perhaps even entice the major hardware and software
developers to take part.
Another problem that has erroded over the past
couple of months, is the lack of a reputable repair
service for our Timex Sinclair computers. I am _ per-
sonally looking into this matter to see if it could be
rectified. If you know of anyone who even repairs these
machines as a hobby, please drop me a line.
Hope you enjoy the JULY/AUGUST issue. Find some
shade, a hammock, a tall glass of ice tea, and give it a
good read. We'll be back next issue.
Tim Woods
Managing Editor
TIME DESIGNS MAGAZINE
T'S Machines Thrive In South America
When the Timex Computer Corporation here in the
States closed their doors for good, a rumor was going
around that thousands of TS2068's had been "dumped" upon
the South American consumer electronics market. But the
rumor couldn't be substantiated and was soon forgotten.
Later on, an “unauthorized" Spectrum clone was dis-
covered in Brazil, along with a dubious software supply.
The manufacturer of the Brazilian Spectrum hed even im-
proved some of the bugs in the original Sinclair ROM.
Versions of this improved ROM found it's way here in the
U.S., and some Spectrum Emulator boards for the 1TS2068
featured the chip.
TOMAHAWK
a reel-tine a flight siz Simla ion based
Aa Advanced
Bees ck MELicoeTER Hen
eee RB
mown to you as
LUE THUNDER ==
The meanest, deadliest combat heli-
copter ever to rule the skies!
Designed to fight and survive, it's
now your job to show your skills in
controlling this machine with all
you've got — against tanks, anti-air—-
craft installments, other helicopters,
and eneny combat ‘planes. fa ressive
sound effects, chainguns, rockets,
missiles (laser sided aa others.
Don't miss out_o
TOMAHAWK Tteme 1039
$ 16.35
NIGHT GUNNER
Aa Super ARCADE style game (and
doesn't require quarters) for your
2068. _ Fully Action-Packed game based
on a WWe scenerario. 30 thrilling
missions where you participate as the
gunner and bomb aimer agains
moving and still targets.
NIGHT GUNNER Item# 1090
$ 3.35
O Fe EING AND HANDLING
$3.00 SH ING A
KNIGHTED COMPUTERS
ANNUAL "SUMMER SI22LER" SALE
TS2068 SOFTWARE
KNIGHTED COMPUTERS
10 CANALVIEW MALL
FULTON, NY
(315) 593-8219
a
The extent of the Timex Sinclair market in South
America wasn't realized until just recently, and it
appears that the TS activity is in Argentina, the most
educated country in Latin America (and ranks very high
world-wide). Christian Pusso, Director of the largest
computer publication in Argentina,
called "K64", re-
cently reported to TIME DESIGNS, "The market here in
Argentina is strongly formed by Commodore 64, 128, MSX
compatibles, Timex Sinclair, Atari 800/130, Apple Mac-
intosh, IBM PC's and its clones...all assumed to be a
total of 500,000 home and PC users".
Laws are very strict in some of the South American
countries on importing large quantities of computer
goods, forcing many manufacturers (including Commodore)
to license existing companies within the country to
assemble the computers and then distribute them. In this
case, the CZERWENY (an odd-sounding name) Company is
licensed through Timex (and more than likely, Timex of
Portugal) to manufacture the CZ1000 (the TS1000) and the
CZ2000 (the TS2068). Other Timex "clones" and Spectrum
clones are widely available...along with stock (U.S.
versions) of the Timex Sinclair line.
Many South Americans are discovering the powerful
capabilities of the TS machines, and their lower cost is
especially appealing. Many computer dealers feature add-
ons and software. Devices to convert the 2068 into a
FIGHTER PILOT
Based on the USAF F-i5 Linge: et e ond. of a
real-time flight simulator
ou erior aircraft. This simul at ee
oS many of the same features
more found on modern day flight
Simulstars. Including 3-D cockpit
view, fully aerobatic Per formance;
training and combat m
crosswinds turbulance, Blind landing,
and pilot sicill rating for the various
levels of diffaculty. All done in real
time! FIGHTER PILOT Item #1089
$11.95
PANASONIC
10801 Printer
A full-sized Sx9 dot matrix erie
that has a Near Letter Quality Mode,
and operates in draft mode at 120epe.
The printer that was used to make
these sheets (photo-copied of course.
to give you the idea. akes regular
sheet paper, or ie feed aerest
tem #10
$ 229.95
ADD $7.50 SHIPPING
13063-1790
VISA/MASTERCARD ACCEPTED
Spectrum, like emulators and twister boards are the most
popular. Spectrum games and other programs are readily
available.
The impact of this South American Timex Sinclair
"connection" may be far-reaching. The need for an in-
formation exchange is great, and currently there is a
great interest in programming and low-cost disk drive
systems.
Sinclair Clones
In The Kremlin
TDM contributor, J. Kevin Paulsen, brought this to
our attention: In the March 16th issue of INSIGHT
Magazine (published by The Washington Times) an article
on the Soviet Union's attempt at catching up with the
microcomputer technology race was featured. The in-
teresting article pointed out how the Soviet's have
surpassed the West in many areas except for the de-
velopment of inexpensive personal computers for the
masses. The author reports that, "It is a system in
which access even to typewriters and copying machines is
carefully guarded, out of fear of dissident and other
unofficial communications. Printers are not available on
the open market, and computer components are prohibit-
ively priced".
But the most surprising revelation is that the
Soviets have started to manufacture computer "clones".
"Smaller computers with brand names such as Agat, Iskra,
and Electronika began to dribble off assembly lines,
closely resembling machines from IBM, Apple Computer Inc
and Sinclair Research Ltd.".
Newest
Sinclair
TDM correspondent, Bob Lussier, supplied us with
information on the new SPECTRUM PLUS 3 computer which
will replace the current 128K+2 model shortly. The
computer makes history as the first Sinclair with a disk
drive unit, and it is also a return to the old black
styling we had grown accustomed to, plus’ several
other new features makes this the ideal personal
computer. It's sad though to think that Sir :
Clive had no hand in this latest version of
the time-tested ZX Spectrum. Instead, the for-
ward marketing strategies of Amstrad are the
driving forces behind this new micro.
Along with the built-in 3" Amstrad
floppy drive, there is also a built in
Centronics printer port, an auxiliary
disk drive port for adding a _ second
drive, MIDI port, RGB monitor con-
nection, twin joystick ports, and
standard cassette tape I/O ports. The
DOS is a version of Amstrad's own Ams-—
DOS, but has been modified, and uses the old
Microdrive commands exclusively. The price of
the Spectrum Plus 3 is £249, and includes a_ disk
with six games, plus a joystick. The Spectrum
Plus 2 now sells for £149. For further info, you
can write to: Sinclair, Brentwood House, 169 Kings Road,
Brentwood, Essex CM14 4EF, U.K.
CP/M is compatible with the built-in disk operating
system, but Amstrad has released no plans to offer a
CP/M emulator. However, outside developers are currently
a
Zt
More Computer Fests
Announced
“Mini-Fair” Comes to the Northwest
Plans abound for regional and national TS computer
fests. It has been said that the future of our Timex
Sinclair community depends on gatherings such as_ these.
Now more users will be able to attend this next year due
to a variety of locations currently being proposed.
The three user groups from the Bay Area of Northern
California are currently making plans for a "Silicon
Valley TS Computer Fest" to be held somewhere in the
South Bay Area, and a suggested date of June 1988. The
region offers itself as an excellent family vacation
spot, as well as the "bargain hunter's dream"...several
large electronic parts houses are nearby. For further
information write to: Norm Lehfeldt, 757 Guerrero, San
Francisco, CA 94110.
Four user groups from Florida are currently working
on details for the "Sunstate TS Winterfest '88" to be
held in Orlando, Florida, either at the end of February
or first part of March 1988...an exact date has not been
set yet. The Central Florida area is the number one
vacation destination in America, with Walt Disney World
nearby. Along with U.S. dealers of Sinclair merchandise,
the planning committee will invite companies from the
U.K. as well. A 24 hr. BBS has been set up to serve as
an information exchange on the Winterfest. The phone
number is: (904) 775-0093 (7/1/N). Or write to: Mary-
Lynn Johnson, 249 N. Harden Ave., Orange City, FL 32763.
Good News for TS users in the Northwest--the "Timex
Sinclair Mini-Fair" will be held on Saturday, September
26th, 1987, in Seattle, Washington. Hours are 10 am to
5:30 pm, and small admission charge of $2 per person
($3 for family) will be charged at the door. Five user
groups from the region will be participate, along with
at least six TS dealers. The TS Mini-Fair is sponsored
in part by Time Designs Magazine and RMG Enterprises.
Nine guest speakers are planned for a wide variety of
Sinclair topics and interests. As of this writing the
exact location had not been established. For further in-
formation write to: TDM, .29722 Hult Rd., Colton, OR
97017.
Other TS computer fests have been discussed for
both the Midwest again, and one for the Eastcoast. Watch
this space for further developments.
working on such a system. In fact, most of the large
software houses in Great Britain are enthused about the
new Spectrum and are gearing up for production of new
game software supplied on the 3" disk format. To quote
one source, "From a software point of view the 128K Plus
3 means that huge games--similar to the best of the US
Commodore 64 disk-based programs will be possible. The
way these work is to load in sections of the game as you
play--deleting those areas of the game you've already
played through from memory, as you go".
NEW PRODUCTS
ANNOUNCEMENT
For TS2068 and SPECTRUM
Novelsoft
brings Artificial Intelligence
to the Timex/Sinclair
fa SPER
2PEert
ZXpert lets you explore the reasoning process of human experts.
With ZXpert you can create an Expert System on any topic you like!
* A useful and educational program * Includes 2068 & Spectrum versions
* Easy and fun to use * Supports Microdrives
* No programming language to learn * Two example knowledge bases
* On-line help * Superb Manual with Tutorial
plus....
Once you have developed a useful knowledge base, with your permission
NovelSoft will sell it and pay you a royalty!!!
Join the revolution with...ZXpert
$19.95 U.S. Plus $3.00S & H
Novel Soft
33 Skelton Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M8V 3W3 * TEL. (416)259-8682 * CompuServe 70416,1435
Product/Dealer News
Larry Kenny of LARKEN ELECTRONICS told TDM about
the plans for the 256K RAMdisk for the TS2068. It will
use static-type RAMs complete with battery back-up. It
will require users to purchase the Larken cartridge, as
it contains the commands for the RAMdisk. Larry strongly
urges any 2068 user who is interested in increasing
their memory up to 256K to write to him, as he is com-
piling an "inform when ready list", plus it will give
Larry an idea of how much interest there is in this
product. Also available now, are two new versions
of the Larken EXTENDED BASIC/DOS CARTRIDGE, one for
users of the Aerco FD-68, and another for Ramex Millenia
K/SPDOS Disk System owners. Both versions feature full
Spectrum compatability and NMI (non-maskable interrupt),
plus improves the original DOS. For further details and
prices, write to: Larken Electronics, RR#2, Navan, Ont.,
Canada, K4B-1H9.
WEYMIL CORPORATION (Box 5904, Bellingham, WA 98227)
has released the DELTA DEVICE, a -non-volatile memory
system for the TS1000. A small circuit board contains
32K RAM divided into four 8K blocks which can be in-
dependantly switched via a DIP switch to various lo-
cations in the Sinclair memory map. Memory is backed-up
by a battery. Included is the Rigter Operating System
(ROS), which is a data handler/directory system manipu-
lated by simple commands. Application of the Delta
Device includes the ability to store several programs
and recall them instantly. Price: $75.00 plus $5 (S&H).
In last issue's product/dealer news column, we
reported on the excellent expanded new version of THE
GUIDE TO TS TELECOMMUNICATIONS, but we incorrectly
stated the price as $5...the correct price is $7.50, and
worth every penny. The book is strongly recommended to
anyone wanting to learn how to use modems with their
Sinclair computer. Lots of information for the advanced
user too. Send for your copy: Pete Fischer, P.O. Box
2002, Tempe, AZ 85281.
Bill Jones (author of SMART TEXT) is starting a
newsletter called: "TS-2068 Safe Disk Up-Date". Emphasis
will be on programming, as well as the Oliger Disk Drive
System. It will be published quarterly, and the annual
subscription price of $12.00 includes unique dividers
and punched pages to fit a 3-ring binder. For further
information write to: TS-2068 Safe Disk Up-date, 1317
Stratford Ave., Panama City, FL 32404.
Silicon Mountain Computers (C-12, Mtn. Stn. Group
Box, Nelson, B.C., Canada VIL 5Pl1) has released an ex-
cellent new modem terminal program for the TS1000 called
ZX-TERM*80. The software package uses genuine hi-res
graphics to provide up to 80 columns of text (!) and
windowing. Features include XMODEM protocol for uploads
and downloads, printer support, Upper/Lower case char-
acters, Westridge or Byte-Back compatible, and much
more. Price: $24.95. Write for complete details.
Robert Hartung reviewed the Spectrum program, BETA
BASIC in the MAY/JUNE '87 issue of TDM. A new version
(4.0) is available for Spectrum's with 128K. Price is
£15.95 and is available from: Betasoft, 92 Oxford Rd.,
Moseley, Birmingham, B13-9SQ, U.K.
Markel Enterprises. has a new address: 4712 Avenue
"N", Suite 383, Brooklyn, NY 11234; and also a new BBS
for Timex Sinclair users, called SINCLAIR AT NIGHT
(718) 627-1293 (settings are 8/1/N).
RMG Enterprises has a Timex Sinclair BBS-—(503)
656-8072, hours from 9 pm to 10 am (settings are 8/1/N).
Variety Sales (325 West Jersey St., #2D, Elizabeth,
NJ 07202) is giving a free British Sinclair magazine
(while supplies last) with each order received and the
customer mentions they saw mention of Variety Sales
in TDM.
Sir Clive's new battery powered laptop computer,
the Z88 has had some delays in delivery due to "bugs" in
the software. All problems should be corrected by the
time you read this. There is a limited special offer
price for the Z88--only £229.95. Write to: CAMBRIDGE
COMPUTERS LTD., Cambridge, CB4 1BR, U.K.
Sunset Electronics (and some selected dealers) have
new dust covers for your Timex Sinclair 2068, 1000,
1500, 2040 printer, and the QL. Made of quality fabric,
these attractive covers prevent damaging liquid spills,
and harmful dust. The logo tells everyone your proud to
own a Sinclair. Write to Sunset for complete price list:
2254 Taraval St., San Francisco, CA 94116. Telephone-
(415) 665-8330.
Users Group Update
Have we listed your group recently?
Send. us the club's name/address and get noticed!
Southeastern Michigan Computer Organization
Timex Sinclair Special Interest Group
c/o Barry Carter, newsletter editor
Box 614
Warren, Michigan 48090
P.O. Box 199
GUTS/SV (Group Using TS of Silicon Valley)
c/o Bill Miller
6675 Clifford Drive
Cupertino, California 95014
P.O. Box 88361
Clackamas County Area TS Users
c/o Rod Gowen
1419 1/2 7th Street
Oregon City, Oregon 97045
706 S. Mason
Kansas Area Timex/Sinclair Users Group
c/o Paul Reynolds
4557 Cherry
Wichita, Kansas 67217
Vashon Island Sinclair Timex Association
c/o Tony Willing
Seattle Area Timex User Group
c/o John Scearce
Tri-City Timex Sinclair User's Group
c/o Mike Davis, President
Saginaw, Michigan 48602
TAS-BAM User's Group
P.O. Box 48961
St. Petersburg, Florida 33743
Vashon, Washington 98070
Sun Lake User Group
Bill Ward, Secretary
1200 Lake Drive
Grand Island, Florida 32735
Seattle, Washington 98188
Timex Sinclair User Group-Philadelphia
P.O. Box 53490
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19105
Westmoreland Computer Users Club
Timex Sinclair Special Interest Group
P.O. Box 3051
Greensburg, Pennsylvania 15601
WMJ DATA SYSTEMS
**Serving the Timex/Sinclair community since 1983 **
¢ Free shipping on all prepaid orders!
¢ Shipment within 24 hours on most of our orders!
e Your personal check is gladly accepted with no delay!
¢ C.0.D. phone orders accepted! (Shipping charges added)
TS1000
ACZ GENERAL LEDGER TS1000 $19.95
SUPERTAPE-45 PROGRAMS TS1000 18.95
TEXTWRITER 1000-32 col. TS1000 12.95
SPEECH SYNTHESIZER TS1000 16.95
STOCK PLOT TS1000 14.00
BOOKS AND ACCESSORIES
KRAFT SYSTEM JOYSTICKSTS2068 $ 9.95
HACKER’S HANDBOOK ALL 9.95
BASICS AND BEYOND TS2068 7.00
C10 CASSETTES 25 for 21.00
C20 CASSETTES 25: for. . -23,00
TS2068
ACZ GENERAL LEDGER TS2068 $19.95
THE DEALER’S DEN TS2068 19.95
MACHINE CODE TUTOR TS2068 18.50
TOMAHAWK TS2068 16.95
NIGHT GUNNER TS2068 16.95
FIGHTER PILOT TS2068 16.95
CRITICAL MASS TS2068 15.95
SABOTEUR TS2068 15.95
BASIC TOOLKIT TS2068 13.95
MSCRIPT (specify conf.) TS2068 24.95
DIAMOND MIKE TS2068 16.95
COLONIZE THE UNIVERSE TS2068 16.95
STOCK PLOT TS2068 16.00
All QUICKSILVA Software TS2068 CALL
WMJ DATA SYSTEMS—TD
4 Butterfly Drive
Hauppauge, NY 11788
(516) 543-5252 (2 p.m. - 5 p.m. Best)
FREE Apple, Atari, Commodore, IBM...Catalog
FREE Timex/Sinclair Catalog - Write or Give us a CALL!
6
TS Communique
By Joe Williamson
A forum for people having problems with their 1000,
1500 and 2068. If you would like to ask a question,
send it to:
TS Communique
c/o Time Designs Magazine Co.
29722 Hult Road
Colton, OR 97017
I bought a QL and would like to know how to hook it
up with my Zenith Data Systems RGB Monitor. If you can
supply any help, I would be very grateful. Thank you.
Larry Anderson
Davenport, IA
Dear Larry,
From the pin-out you sent for the Zenith monitor,
the following connections should work. Be careful in
soldering so that there arn’t any frayed wires or solder
bridges causeing shorts between pins.
QL Signal Zenith Monitor
2 Ground 16 & 19
3 composite video 20
4 composite sync 1 .
5 vertical sync 14
6 Green 5
7 Red ee
8 Blue 6
If this does not lock the picture into sync, try
connecting pin 4 of the QL to pin 1 & 14 and eliminating
the pin 5 connection of the QL. Also, I showed the
connection of composite video so you can display either
RGB or monochrome video which may help with certain
video modes. -Joe
I am using a Timex 2068 computer, @driving a brand-
new Magnavox monochrome monitor (Model BM 7622), working
mainly with MSCRIPT word processing software. I
continually notice the following symptoms:
1. Usually, the malfunction first appears as a
flickering of the screen display. After about ten
minutes, the video signal is lost and the screen shows
only a normal raster (blank lit screen). Sometimes the
signal is not entirely lost; very dim words and letters
of the text are visible on the screen.
2. Manipulating the brightness and contrast controls of
the monitor does not restore the video signal to normal.
Turning the monitor power off then on again does not
restore the display.
3. Turning the 2068 off then on generally restores the
signal to normal, but then of course everything in
memory is lost.
4. The remedy that seems to work most of the time is to
pull out the plug from the 2068 monitor jack and then
plug it in again, whereupon the video signal usually
returns to normal strength.
5. The symptons described above are the same whether I
am using a three-year-old 2068 or a two-month-old 2068,
a fact which seems to indicate that the Magnavox monitor
{is at fault. However, there still could be something
about the 2068 monitor output circuit which is causing
the problem.
6. The output from the RF jack of the 2068, which feeds
an ordinary television set, remains constant and strong
without any of the symptons described above.
Seymour Miller
Forest Hills, NY
Dear Seymour,
Because you have the problem with both computers, It
would be most reasonable to think that there is a
problem with the monitor or the monitor cable. Try
jiggling the cable at both ends to see if the symptons
come and go or replace the cable. To see if the problem
lies In the computer, try another monitor. If there is a
problem with the computer, there are several places to
ea
H Ni 7
yas
YTS)
check. Video is processed in the SCLD and comes out on
pin 33 and on the RGB lines (pins 48, 47, & 46). You
would need an oscilloscope to check for activity on
these pins.
The video then goes through the sync & white
level control, VRI (try adjusting it to see if this
clears up the problem) and feeds the base of @5. the
signal comes out on the emitter and feeds the emitter of
Q4 and out the collector of Q@4. From here, the video
feeds both the RF modulator and the video output circuit
consisting of @3 and Q4 which have been known to cause
problems. The video signal feeds the base of Q3, out
from the collector, feeds the base of @2 and out on the
emitter through C58 to the video out put jack.
Determining where the video is found and then lost can
tell you where the fault is quite easily (one of the
easier circuits to follow). I have seen alot of video
problems traced to the SCLD Cunfortunately) and Q2 & Q3.
As I stated before, your problem sounds like it is
in the monitor or cable. Look there first! -Joe
I read the letter from Mel Routt in the first TS
Communique. I seem to have the exact same problem with
MSCRIPT. I have an Aerco parallel printer interface
connected to a Blue Chip M120/10 printer. I get the
random printout glitches on both tape and disk versions
of MSCRIPT. Tasword II and anything typed from Aerco
RP/M work fine. I am also looking for a CP/M word
Processor.
For some reason the print from my Alphacom 32 is
smaller than usual. The letters vary in size during the
printout. This happens on both the 2068 and the 1500 so
the problem is in the printer. Is there a solution for
this?
IT have an Aerco FD-68 Disk Interface connected to a
Zenith ZVM-131 RGB monitor. I can see faint lines moving
on my video. In RP/M, the letters appear to shimmer.
This appears to be some sort of interference. The cable
from the FD-68 to the monitor is shielded so the
interference does no.come from there. Someone told me
that it may be coming from the 2068 power supply. Is a
better power supply available?
Dave Bennett
Lemoyne, PA
Dear Dave,
Mel Routt wrote us back and said that since he
received Version 5.2 of MSCRIPT, the problem has
disappeared. So try trading up for the new version. The
Alphacom 32 problem sounds like a damaged Pin heater.
Your best bet is. to replace the whole unit. The
interference problem sounds like a buss loading problem
or poor sync. If the problem is there with only the disk
interface connected, more than likely it is from poor
sync being stripped from the video. Try adjusting the
sync and White level adjustment inside the computer just
to the top upper left of the speaker designated as VRIi.
If this doesn’t help, you may need to check the actual
sync stripping circuit on the disk interface. If you
have an oscilloscope, look at the sync line. You should
have clean, steady negative peaks with no tearing where
the peak starts or ends. -Joe
In your Banner program for the 2040 printer (TS
1000) in SUM Magazine, May 1986, I can’t get past the
line:
30 LET LEN=LEN M8
It comes up with a syntax error. I have tried
several things such as "" etc. to no avail.
A. L. Francis
Yucaipa, CA
Dear Mr. Francis,
LET and the 2nd LEN are both key words and need to
be entered as a single keystroke. The first LEN is a
variable and is just typed in L-E-N. -Joe
STARFLEET 2068 is an all BASIC, low-resolution graphics,
shoot 'em up space wars game for the Timex Sinclair 2068.
The program listing and CK-TYPE output (to aide your
typing/debugging of this program--see May/June '87 issue
of TDM) is printed below. STARFLEET 2068 is also available
on tape from Lemke Software (2144 White Oak, Wichita, KS
67207) for $9.95 ppd., in case you want to try this game,
but don't. have the time to key it in.
Scenerios In the late 1990's, NASA finally perfected
the first WARP DRIVE engine. Earth Federation, a joint
US-Canada-European space agency quickly arose to control
deep space exploration. Over the first several decades, 9
major STAR BASES were constructed; 1 at the edge of our
solar system, and 8 others nearly equidistant from this
home base. The year is now 2068 AD. After nearly 70 years
of exploration, it was beginning to look like we were
alone in the galaxy...until THEY appeared. They made no
effort to answer our communications, gave no sign of
peaceful intent--and as far as we know, might be purely
mechanical (computerized) devices. They simply came, de-
stroying everything in their paths. They caught us by
surprise. After 70 years of uninterrupted peace in space,
Earth Federation had only 1 armed Star Ship left in space
active service--the STRATA-GEM. The ship was hastily
fueled, its crew briefed, and as the aliens were about to
attack Star Bases 1 and 8, the STRATA-GEM was launched to
meet the attackers. YOU are the CAPTAIN. Battle Stations
are sounding. Good Luck!
Armaments: The Strata-Gem has Electro-Magnet "shields"
to repel the enemy weapons. Full strength is 10. If they
go to zero, good bye!
Weapons: You have Photon Torpedos (for longer range
shots) and Phasor weapons.(for closer range shots). The
number of each depends on the level of difficulty.
Sensors: Sensor range is 3 parsecs, at full strength,
but will vary on shield strength (ship damage).
Engines: You have WARP Speed capability (Warp 1 to
3). You have 20 units of fuel. (Note: the faster you go,
the more fuel you use!!) WARP 1 moves you 1 parsec (row
and/or column) per move, WARP 2 moves you 2 rows and/or
columns per move, etc. If you run out of fuel, good bye!
Docking: You must DOCK to refuel, repair, restock
armament, etc. The Star Base will not lower its shields
(necessary for you to dock) if there are enemy ships in
the quadrant.
Surprises: Yes, there are a few. If a Base refuses to
lower it's shields, try-try again. You may have just been
a "Bad Captain" and need to pay penance! There are 6
levels of difficulty!
How to Play.
STARFLEET 2068 has 2 screens, the navigation screen
and the weapons/tactical screen. The navigation screen
shows you a map of the galaxy: stars, bases, your ship,
the enemy ‘ships. The weapon/tactical screen showS you a
"close-up" view around your ship, also the range of your
sensors (a circle). Anything inside this circle is "fair
game" for your weapons.
On the Navigation screen, "HELM AT YOUR CONTROL" will
flash, telling you that it is your turn to make a move.
Use the joystick to command your ship to make a move. You
can change the WARP SPEED by pressing numbers 1 to 3.
Press "D" to DOCK, press "W" to go to the WEAPONS screen.
3
FLEET cuibb
SPACE ARCADE GAME
by
STAN LEMKE
NOTE: to DOCK, you must "fly" your ship into the STAR BASE
User Defined Graphic you wish to dock with. Then on _ the
next turn you command "D" (dock). DON'T try to fly thru
stars or other ships!. Press "0" (zero) for no move, as_ in
station keeping.
On the Weapons screen, you will see the map "close-
up". Here you will see that Docking really places you just
beside a STAR BASE. "WORKING!" will flash when you first
go to this screen. The program is calculating the range,
distance, position of everything for this new display.
When the screen is completed, you will see your ship
(center of the circle) with a" " User Defined Graphic
flashing on it. This is your weapons "cross-hairs" for
aiming at a specific target. Use your joystick to position
this on the target of your choice. When ready, press fire.
At any point prior to pressing fire, you can select your
weapon: press "IT" for torpedo, "P" for phaser weapon. If
you shoot at yourself, this is a signal to abort the shot.
Press "N" to go to the Navigation screen.
The program (listing).
Type in the program, SAVE it to tape with RUN 4040
[ENTER], (you start the program with RUN [ENTER]). LOAD
in the CK-TYPE program (see May/June '87 issue of TDM) and
run it to help you find typing errors. Correct these as
required, and re-SAVE the new copy.
This program uses 13 User Defined Graphics as 8x8
pixel Sprites. These are easily identified in the program
listing as single INVERSE VIDEO letters (A thru M). I did
this by re-defining each UDG as the inverse of its letter.
This has no effect on the CK-TYPE, and requires no action
on your part except that each time you encounter an IN-
VERSE VIDEO character, you know it is a User Defined
Graphics character (and which UDG character) and you must
type it in with the "GRAPHIC" cursor command.
The program also abounds with REM statements.
are quite helpful for programming/debugging purposes,
if you remove these from your "working" copy,
increase the program speed by at least 25%!!
These
but
you will
SHEE FH SEES EH EH ELSES
19 REM +44
28 REM STAR ae See ee ee
RE
"Bee PRINT aT
B 31;" TRE ‘
8,8; Tas’ aaa a
RN
210 PRINT AT ¢
hii: RETURN
228 PRINT AT 1
hi)l;TAB 31;"
6,10; "Time =“; FN
RETURN
IN ete th
coe
et fl
IND &
RE
258 REM se
250 REM
else THEN
run ou
fatis
is rsat?
cetit+rank
i
1 baal
B30 REM 24
242 REM
258 PRIN
Pti TRB 18;
S68 PRINT
7 4
=4
in isse IF Rite AND shi THEN LET
=a an=shs.6
ank 1350 IF hit?:@ ANG sh<S THEN LET
=a (h2,44413
in :
=l
in
&
498 ar
f SEM 424 Star
be €=8
SUB cer E28 i420 REM
THEN PRINT AT bf fe SUB 182:
i.i},
KoinkS; "8": LET jesje+
and were Vapori
The Federat
HEELERS HH RHE
tara
T AT 28,28;
wer their
are enemy":
hips in the quadrant
#212: PAUSE 92: 60 3u
9@: GO SUB Baa: Go
To 112e
14688 NEXT J: IF dac
UB 2828: PRINT AT ae
fohit is verified."
is initiated.":
5 NT (RANDa4a) -
. 22) : LET s
=pt+INT
bo fie tRND218
+
H
PU ed ee
“Boo:
Backing orbit is
PRINT #8;AT 2,
een
ut ty ais impossible UE
my PAUSE 52 us
7 BO SUB Zia: So
5 358: Go To
1i48a@ RE
149@ REM $24 Ck
i5a@a REM
IF fueleeaa THEN LET fuel
LET muf=2
IF shomsh THEN LET
IF snomsn THEN LET
IF ptompt THEN LET
eo yoga THEN LET
iol)
ry
t
_
line
oe
“la RAE
RIO NG ba
a
Continued Next Page.
STARFLEET @libé
sgn PT fe ho A
3
Now tn e+ ta oe oo
itision Dmg #+4#
PRINT OAT
Petarpeds bank
pause Be:
#2008 Let pizpt-1: ter 5
s¢=8 THEN Ler np
SuB ase: LET ptrelvnpt
Pret aie eas
yea-yileynpts:
LET py= =914INT
Pe Gorking |
Pb oe-
PLOT Px pd:
REM 2% PR
60 SUB Bea:
: $0 SUB 2348
2380 LET p
yi: DRAW IR
BEEP 2458
2330 PRINT AT
2542 REM
2258 REM #2#% Hit
2252 REM
2372 LET cx=FN Ft
x2}: LET dmg=a:
firngt+Js ee
Something?
lee oy
xO
LET hit= 28:
ra) i Wie
Txt
T is9{if+j-irng}
2388 IF j>tirng+Jjs)
(Oe eeiene ala).
2398 IF ABS
fcox-f(i,B)
2402 NEXT J
THEN LET i=9
1350 1 FOR a= rAd at) Ls
1 THE
th
Sin
44
yipeee 62:
deg
td
“1D
He
=
nh hs
re
NO Na: Be. G
REM #24 Bel
feo Th be bets ps es perc.
SE EG sd
cee] MC a Ga
UE eh eet
ce I fly veut ve
eee WD
seh ot
> LET Uliie|a:
=@: LET bti-if,2)= PRINT AT
2,43 ,8 03,23; ¢ 5 P :
: GO To 2982
pare REM
#2828 REM
2822 Ben ##2e Select
al
ve
rm
=
aha rad
Weapon 2%
so files
“hg o-
SHE EI
OR bg="P"
oR ce ee
PRINT AT 1s,
Warp Brive”
60 TO 752
2030 RETURN
2298 IF wpn=1 THEN PRINT AT
INVERSE 4; "Arming Photon Torpe
THEN PRINT AT
i; ‘Charging Phaser
TNUERSE @; TAB 31;
Biae iF -wpnse
2712 REM
e728 REM
728 REM
e7¢8 FOR i=1 TO if: LET Fti.3}
> NEXT i: LET ranksrank+i:
IF score>=59 THEN 6O TO)
2758 CLS : PRINT AT 2,8;
SREEEHEHEEEEEEEE LEE LEH HHH
tulations!
¥E Successfully defended
deration against 12 enemy
hips. “3; °°3" Far your great
ory aver the enemy,
an Council
the rank ieee
k-1)2415441) Ta x
ep up the good “Work! The ne
ve OF Ships has already be
atted on the tong range
nsors.
EEZTFTTETEE
PRINT if;
LASH 1, "Press Enter":
CLS
REM
REM #22 Next UWsave ##+
REN
PRINT AT 5,8; “#++24%%
SXEFRSZTTEHATEEEZEHH The Foe
en Council would Like to
rm you that your
ceive new shields
Star Base stop.
aormation received
he next wave of
PS have improved
range.
arefull HEEHLESES
SEPFLEELFHEEHEHESTHHE": FRINT AT
1,418; PAPER @; INK 7; FLASH 1;”
ress Enter": PAUSE @: CLS
281@ RESTORE 35a: IF Boot 2 aor b
22108 THEN LET bi=5: LET be=
28209 FOR isi To 412: REAG a:
i} i: LET bi=bi-t
trank-Li: IF 6
Got AW more +4%
sory ae TY UD te de
their weap
Be
P
(bi-d): CrET i
“FOR istbe+ii T
NEXT i: LET m
LET mpt=S+rank—-2
eo TO
if
Pp
a7a REM #42 ALL Bone! +++
2398 CLS : PRINT AT 2,8; "+
FLEFEEEEESEL EE SHSHLAL ETH
tulations!
ve successfily
deration against
vaders!
go hot
shot!
A : 60 TO 3518
2980 GO SUB 198. PRINT AT 16,8;T
AB S1,"° ": GO To 17ae
2912 REM
#2O20 REM #44 Alien Weapons #24
2922 REM
£2948 GO SUB
dmg =8 - FOR J
2
ME+RNDerank s
rT Loacx=FN cir
ET xG=FN dtlocx)
¥: PLOT THK inks;
x3,
yo
%3,43: ix4-x3), Og1-
NUERSE 2: PRINT AT ast
>; INK inkS; "EB": PRINT AT 2
NK ink®; SCREENS {9,16}
3 bate? THEN GO
£950 NEXT J:
B 188: PRINT 19,8, "Damage
beot<e -'yhris* its ah shietd’
Oo SUB 25a =
2960 LET sh= Sigs dmg: <8 TH
N CLS
£EEEE ;
elds gone down. ergenc
yo pra scedures are in errect.
bandon Ship [f1! HEHREEEES
SEEEEEELAEEEE SESS EEHEEE": GO TO
60 SUB 3
2010 LET
Baca REM
CF
cri
PRI
Ako;
2407-5
bisa:
S+5GN
Bi: f
i
f
Mo
1
5s
373
3
Git (isd oO 3
Ab Fli,d} A
ND { i} Fli,f)¢ TH
EN PRINT AT Fii.,d),Fti,2); Fi
ink3;" ": LET fti,1)=INT ea
}4113+56N_ (RND-.5) 414+rank i,
Liiva): NT iF +i
i44+56N nk s2- 3
fel: : 1,6 Ci43 NK
inks; 7 x IT LiF 3
1/S)¢edtil: LET xcsINT ttf Be
paced take Ne LET tti)=FN oc }
+
3148 REM
S158 REM ¢22 Ships 4 &
31658 REM
2178 IF tiiio@ AND
AND (fF ti,d)>=8 AND
ND (fF (i,2)>=8 AND F
EN PRINT AT Fti,d),
ink3;" ": LET Fi,
14(1345GN (RND-.5)s1
2))72): LET Ff ti,2) <I
18+56N (AND-.5)4i4ran
f2): PRINT AT Fli,d),
inkS; “id: LET xr SInt
i/S)4d(1}: LET xc=InT
B) 73) 4d (2): LET ( (ii =FN
+
2180 REN
3198 REM #22 Ships 5S & 18 #24
32828 REN
3218 IF
AND (fF (i,2)>=@ AND fti,#)
HEN PRINT AT Fli,1),Fti,B};
Roink3;" ": LET Fti ji) =INT
“Vy He bey
a
fy |.
Z+~.
end
Aes
nh
ti
2)4+(9-SGN (RND-.5) 4 (34rank /2) +R
D-Fli,ti) 72): LET Fti,B)=INT tft
112) + (164 (Ser ank 2) sRNDS5GN TRANG
~.S)-fti,2i) var: PRINT AT fF ti,d}
2F Ci, Rd; eee ae
OES
T_ttrti,
=FN cixer
3220 IF
THEN GO
3238 60 » SUB
T £€i,8) 221 =8:
i,3)=18 9,16;
@; "Bt: Rok=L
: 6O Bu i) i
T gtji} d=ajit
240 NE o
T irisj 3
2
Geoea REM
geoe8 RF
32728 RF
Be28 For
LET kig@=
74} _ AR i
bo Ta 23590
238 near k
3322 RE
2312 REN ee
Base
2328 REN
3338 FOR k=1 To 60
LET k1i@=k+20: If (i ,13
24) AND Fli,fisfigtkias
GO TO 33748
3048 NEXT & 43
30528 GO SUB i NT
An enemy ship le
star and was éd
AT f(i,2},f ti R
GO SUB 238: PAUSE i128:
8 OR score=19 GR scare
resoa OR scores49 GR score
; Bi) pan et
§iSia): ‘
5 PIM Fae:
4
REM
35238 REM z22 4-0
4a Bene
3552 pet
353 $ 1i2,8,4 6.2
6,255,1,8,4 Ba, 1% pes
6,16,9,1,8, 268,43 242
2126,24,8,4 8,665,126, gis
208,280,098 ,6: 28,123,129, 3,
28,125 ,38,4 252,8,1,8,128,
$,129,48,82 4,24,24,3,1,8,
9,66,8,24,2 98,24,3,8,1,8,
a @,8,8,3,855,i2
36@a REM
2519 REM #22 Init. Position x24
362@ REM
3620 DATA INT 7,7,.7,7,7,85,25,2
:25,25,82,158,282,405,464,394,26
8138278
2662 REM #42 Init. Variables #z#
3678 REM
3588 LET qd=i:
ink@=?: LET i
LET ink3=i:
LET scaore=s@: LET
‘3 2 LEE es
k4=d: LET inks
ink?s?: LET
r$il TG Sa@i= pisin Comm
adore tear dmiral Vice A
dmiral Admi Fleet Ad
mirat Gs d PAPER 12: INK
2692 CLS : tidi=s@: LET tie
roa tidi=s@: LEP tid} =a: ter t
(Spe =e: i=]
LET t (8) =s7:
@)=16: LET
@: LET tiisi
3788 REN
O7418 REM #324 Poke UDG 4%
3728 REM
27238 FOR is@ To 7
POR
3748 READ g: 3
3758 READ g: 3
758 READ g: 3
778 READ g: g
782 READ g: 3
728 READ gs: 3
8228 READ gs: 3
818 READ ¢:
820 READ g:
828 READ ¢:
O48 READ g:
GoSa READ g:
3858 NEXT i
3870 INK 2: PRINT
R_@; INK 7;
ET rank=i:
Alert! Alert!
Star Cruisers i
Federation’s t
Captain oF ti
Gem. You must
our Last hop
Good Lucki"
LET cxsi4de2
134 (AND-.5):
bad: NEXT a:
Fuel=28: LET
LET msn=2:
S: LET pt=mp
amph: LET miu
2898 LET wis
LET See ee
32298 NEXT §:
39418 FOR isi
“: NEXT a: Fe
agli} =":
?: LET pas fEN c
as tFN apa aa
oe ceil “TO
éo “TO 3962
39398 CLS
G948 PRINT AT @,28;"
SHEFSFLEELEEESTETHE
cessfully destroyed"; INT s
enemy ships!"j,°;, "Thankyou
goad game! Press Ent
continue. SHFEHHHE
SFEHTELZEFE ASH RHTALAL Mis
time: “j;FN Ati;" seconds";
SESEEEFELEREEE SE£FS¢HSEHHE
PAUSE @: IF INKEY$=CHRS 13 THEN
CLS : GO TO G5ia
3950 REM #4% get ready +++
39598 cLs_ : PRINT AT 18,12; FAPER
2; INK 7; EEG sH I; “Alert!”
ga7a souNG 7,62;3,15
3988 FOR j=i Ta 3: FOR ise5e@ To
120 STEP +5: SouND @,i: NEXT i:
PAUSE 4: NEXT j
3999 PRINT AT 13,7; FARPER
7; FLASH 1; "Battle Stat y
4080 FOR j=1 TO 3: FOR i=B5a To
ia@ STEP -5: SOUND @,i: NEXT i:
PAUSE 4: NEXT J
4812 SQUND 6,8;9,8;12,8
4022 POKE 23674,8 : PORE
POKE 23572,2
4298 GO TO 54a
4848 SAVE “Star Fileet"
CK Type
Line Bytes Sum
25 : isdz
49: 3350
25 isae
53 7a7a
25 isiz
26 2050
29 2255
36 2285
34 2145
36 2530
3 res
25 i925
3a 5720
eS : E343
2 : 484
Ba 2g59
2 431
53 7
gi 75
iis a5
365 bz
51 73
338 ase
2 1
Ba or
2 4
213 O51
133 372
77 a7
87 25
26 Ba
2 i
Ba 56
z 2
22 43
iz7 45
Fl i
5
31a
27
134
5
115
34
ii
2
B2
Pa
5 24
512 ei
52a 2
532 Ba
540 2
oIARFLEET 2d
UEFA sd
CA be Be Ch
Pil~d~d
FCO ST
added dd od
fe CONG fe Ne
Ef] ro ei te oh
Keo sg ees] f> ca
Sp Sw a SS
i
T
1
1
i
i
EE
i
i3
i
ind
i
Nee be
1ST fe bas
pp od
DoD at Ue COU haf 1
wo
LOCC IN Bra
GG St B= Be Cat
Pca Ns Non co
i)
og
pa
NEES EOC E & O10 F UNE HG
be 6S OC CG eT
het
be pape nna ny hy cana hang ns
Ch
a
db
NINO ae pf Nana
KORO DIN ETEK CG sg fe fran ng Na
1G A ST
fe PTC ay sd Co 6 Ca
7
Parad
13
i3
ei
a4
oo
62
i
3
>
?
a
4
a
>
7
2
5
a
to
5
5
5
3
2
2
=
ri
=
=
&
Hou > NS Na ch
Petit
on
isin Co
pores
ha
THN Re NAN NaN Na
2 PU a bs a US
a Bh
a
be
ip haha he
fo FSG SUS I fb
if Pru Oe A
ia)
eo
Be
=]
27
=
2
7
i
o
rad
=
YF CTU ff NO fo TUT
es
> CG rf NY ee be
PSE OYE OS INE SENIOR
¥ bat Rs
to
a}
ar ha Gi it
Iwas to NS
Mf Ne fT Bs be fo Mf UCI
B
( UN CU
Sp Eo Sa AES Sa Sa a Sa Se See Se Se Se Se Se Se Sp Se Se SS a
oc Cb f=
fy be Be or a
Bet BOL LO a
fo
-
=]
cons
4
ok
ad
6
6
i
63
32
18
ais
2
3
3
KO
Cake RS To ee be OO Oho be A A DAN Eo be Be ha NY
Pl
KU J) a ho a
cP Ue CP CS
5)
Pup PN
tl
Spa
Ln onoi
(St Be La sf
B
i)
Sr
io he
noe
Nabe ba be ng Ns
Be
1
6
1
a
ae
1
2
6
i
3
i
mm
3
3
>
?
3
=
7
Ee
3
2
7
3
SECT
za
z
ES
zg
a
a
1
i
3
=e
2
ri
a
i
hahape noha
-
tr
PP
he
un
Tu
CU be
a)
ha
oo PU bs Sth Pd bt
Diy pe 0 SS dB
Cth so en co
mH
fa NI fe CT
lped oh
od
Ww
be ur Ns Sa
Rt fe
ONS Hp pe ee ty ty
fas
“l
p
pe
py)
ia)
=a
z£
=
é
:
ze
2
4
a
=
ra
ton Go Gu
Ds)
NI pS CO Car hat sd DIN A be DN be be be ee be hg NN a
How does it work’?
Here is a brief description of the major sections (and a little
philosophy) behind what makes this program work. This won*t tell
you everything you’ll need to know about writing a game program,
nor everything there is to know about this program, but it will
tell you enough to make changes to this one, and even cheat if you
want too!
Lines 10 — 50: Title/Copyright notice. He sure to include this!
Lines 60 — 120: These calculations are used over and over in the
program. To save memory, they are defined as functions. They are
used to calculate row/column position from x/y pixel position and
visa versa.
Line 130: This line reads the system ’frames*’ counter and
calculates system time in seconds. It is used to calculate the
GAME time, and also the elapsed time from your last move. If you
take too much time to make a move, the aliens will take their
turn. The time to make a turn is shorter as the level of
difficulty goes up!
Line 140: This line re-directs the *RUN’ command to the program
initialize routines starting at line 3510. (These are at the
bottom/end of the program because they are not used very often,
the routines that are used the most are at the top/beginning of
the program to help speed things up!)
Lines 150 - 220: These lines *CLEAR® away old messages and = print
the Elapsed Game time.
Line 230: This sets the SOUND command for the ‘’soft’ exploding
ship.
Lines 240 —- 310: This section checks how much fuel you have left.
It also prints the *fuel gage* marker in the appropriate color,
GREEN for lots of fuel, YELLOW for mid-tank, RED for low!
Lines 320 -— 3460: These lines print the Weapons Status.
Lines 370 - 460: This section converts the ALIENS, STAR’ BASES,
STARS, and YOUR SHIP coordinates from the Screen Location array
(Ld) to their row/column coordinates. Then the Navigation screen is
printed. NOTE: to check the position of a star, base, etc. against
any other object, you must compare the row and column, or x and y
positions, this is 2 coordinate comparisons per object. When you
start checking 10 ships for collisions with 9 bases, 11 stars, and
your ship, it becomes very time consuming. Therefore, I created a
single array (L), that defines a combined Row/Column location as a
single value, thus reducing the comparison time to half its former
time! The time to calculate this is easily compensated because
there are a lot more comparisons than calculation loops!
Lines 470 - 510: This section reads the joystick using an IN/OUT
command. This simultaneously reads both joysticks and is much
faster than a STICK command that reads left only or right only.
This method allows you to use left or right joysticks without any
program speed penalty!
Lines 520 — 610: *LOCKING ONTO TARGET!’ While this message is
flashing, these lines are checking to ’*’see’ if there are any
objects between your ship and the selected target. This is done
using the POINT (X,Y) command. If FOINT is 1, there is an object
at that X,Y location. If FOINT is ©, no object. The first object
encountered is set as the real ‘target’.
Lines 620 - 740: This is the NAV. screen menu. Just press the
letter associated with your choice: N - Nav, W - Weapons, D — Dock
Lines 750 — 880: ’HELM AT YOUR COMMAND’. It’s your move!
Lines 8970 — 1010: Move. Have enough fuel? Reposition your ship.
Lines 1020 — 1090: Check if you *hit’ anything when you moved.
Lines 1100 — 1140: Move the Aliens. 53 aliens move clockwise around
the screen, 5S aliens move counter~clockwise.
Lines 1150 - 1280: Check if the Alien ships collided with your
ship, or any of the Star Bases. The Star Bases are destroyed when
the Alien Ships get close enough to “dock’. When a Star Base is
destroyed, the next Star Base becomes their target. When Star Base
9 (home base) is destroyed, your ship becomes the final target!
Baca Bai 3 2 434
2922 56 4 ei a2
29190 2 4 2 434i
2920 23 Pa 518 341236
2238 2 ai 2 431
2940 475 4 Bi ease
2950 36 : 2 431
2552 254 513 33961
2970 2 434
2980 are él eeg3e
2900 2 2 43
3080 api Sis
3d12a 43 a
3020 2 a2
2030 Bi 2
3048 2 527 34391
12 3858 545 56 4274
Lines 1280 - 1390: Alien attack. If you get tco close to the
aliens (even in Nav mode), they will attack you!
Lines 1400 — 1470: DOCK. Check if you are in Star Base orbit, if
alien ships are too close, etc.. Begin refuel, repair, etc. if
35190 276 18046
DOCKed. 3528 e 461
3528 22 25665
Lines 1480 - 1570: This section limits the fuel, armament, etc. Sap r=] aa.
carried for each level of difficulty. 355. 258 La7ad
2560 2 431 &
nt — 4355 ai
Lines 1580 — 1420: Prepare to select your target. g578 26 ety ae
2 & Sad 7
Lines 1630 -— 1700: This section catalogs all the stars, aliens, ao 2 431 2 17a
and bases relative to your ships’ present location. . aor 7 ? Bee
' . : 3 : 7403 a 3 iva
Lines 1710 - 1850: This section counts how many stars, aliens, and re < S41 1a B77 Bee.
bases are visible on the weapons screen, then creates the screen so 3 4ai 3 A 276 278
i 5a 25 2a 3 : 5
pecan 70 2 1 2548 18 a46
Lines 1860 -— 2010: This section reads the joystick commands and Bea Ra 3558 5 4
moves the ‘cross-hair’ UDG used to select the target. The M/C Bag seed 3260 So 5
routine at 61241 makes a duplicate of the weapons screen in *high’ 2: 431 See _ i8s
memory. The UDG cross-hair is moved to wherever you command it. eee 18 pea Basa 6s
The M/C routine at 61253 replaces the original screen, erasing the 5750 19 Tso7 AD oF
cross-hairs, allowing you to print it at another location quickly, S749 43 A971 ‘ 52
giving you fast response to joystick commands. Bae ais i973 63
76a i3 1975 ii
i i i ; 3778 i3 i377 i¢
Lines 2020 - 2110: This section allows you to select which weapon =
you want. It also prints your selection.
Lines 2120 - 2180: FIRE! Is your target in range? Do you have RESOl IRCES
mao FOR YOUR SINCLAIR
Lines 2190 - 2250: Fire Fhoton Torpedo. Any left? Torpedo is
displayed as a blinking *dot’ as is crosses the screen.
Lines 2260 — 2330: Fire Fhaser. Any left? Fhaser is displayed as a BOOKS
line.
OFFICIAL 2068 TECHNICAL MANUAL............$25.00
Lines 2340 - 2610: Hit something? This section determines if you
actually hit a anything, and what it was. Tf you hit an alien
ship, its damage is computed. Alien ship damage is additive. You CONTROL THINGS with your
may score 30% on it with a first hit, 80% on a second hit.... the Timex/Sinclair by RL Swarts sieeenS)D OO
two hits will score a *kill’. Did you hit a star? a star base?
Lines 2620 - 2700: This subroutine determines the outcome of a
collision with an alien ship. The alien is destroyed, but what is
the damage to your ship???
ZX81: Programming for Real Applications
by Randie Hurley
includes 12 Software Programs
i — 2850: ' : 1 + £44 ‘
Lines 2710 2850: Got 10 more aliens! Level of difficulty is on a Cassette Tape
increased.
Lines 2860 - 2900: Victory! Got *em all! Build a Microcomputer - Controlled
Robot by B.C. TaYlOl n.d | 7.OO
Lines 2910 — 2960: Aliens shoot at your ship. Damage?
Lines 2970 ~- 3240: When you are in the Weapons mode, the aliens The Best of TIME DESIGNS Volume 1...
try to surround you. This section of the program controls each of
the alien ships, and places them at prescribed points around you
with some random deviations from these locations. The exact
9 1.00
Taking the Quantum Leap
positions also vary with the level of difficulty! Despite the Dy MIKE de SOS... eeccssssssssessssees alsotiinng20OO
complexity of each move, the wait is very short... less than a
Secondper “ship: SPECIAL PACKAGE DEAL:
“ t ” a”
Lines 3250 - 3470: Check alien ship collisions: hit your ship? Both “Control Things and 2X81 $10
destroy a star base?
Lines 3520 - 4040: Program initialization section. TIME DESIGNS
INE
Line 3550: This is the data and read/poke routine to set up the MAGAZ
machine code programs used with the weapon screen. BACK ISSUES
Line 3590: This is the data that defines all 13 UDG sprites. $3.00 EACH
Line 3630: This data defines the screen location (L) of the 9 star Nov/Dec 85 Vol. 2
bases and 10 alien ships.
Jan/Feb 86
March/April 86
May/June 86
map into place. July/August 86
Line 4020: This line pokes the ’frames’ system variable with oO Sept/Oct 86
Lines 3700 -— 3860: These lines FOKE in the UDG values.
Line 3910s This line creates a$. This array contains the
navigation screen definition: screen border, star location, etc.
This string is printed, and gives the appearance of scrolling the
(zero), reinitializing the game timer.
Nov/Dec 86 Vol. 3
Jan/Feb 87
March/April 87
May/June 87
I hope you enjoy playing Star Fleet... at least as much as I. did
writing it! OK, beam me up Scotty!
26115 so72 : 2a t5075
aaa 3380 | Be; «aaa SAVE $1.00 when you order
gee aia as =e all six Volume Two issues!!
a sips TIME DESIGNS MAGAZINE CO.
2: 3 : & 1485
euis Bisa: 50 5152 29722 Hult Rd., Colton, OR 97017
asi Saga: 2 Pet (503) 824-2658
25805 3459 is ibis ~*~
183s 3528 2 481 } o
Part II
Judging by all the mail, it appears that a good
many 2068 users have been interested in alternatives to
Sinclair's original font for quite some time! And that's
exactly what we will be discussing this time. Stay
tuned!
Now, in all those letters no one mentioned a little
bug I ran across in the BASIC program of Part I. That's
too bad--I usually send such computer pest controllers a
tape of utilities or at least a thank-you card!
The bug is a small one in line 61. This line is
supposed to print an equal sign-~-I say supposed to. If
one examines the new characters in Figure 3 in the same
article he won't find an equal sign. Line 61 has "DRAW
0,2" twice. Change these to "DRAW 2,0" and the program
will perform as intended. Soon we'll be looking at some
slick code that will make worrying about such inherent
hoohaa of BASIC a thing of the past.
So now that the bug is out of the way, most of my
mail is answered and my new son's sleeping through the
night, I will dive headlong into this next level of
CLASSY FRONT END. We will try to progress slowly enough
so as not to lose anyone. So even those less _ familiar
with programming. are invited to follow along.
In designing a Machine Code utility one faces the
inevitable quandry of too many desires and not enough
space. I wrote a wish list of features and then settled
from that on a "short list" of must-haves. These fell
into three catagories (being BASIC compatible, being
flexible and easy to use). When we finally finish the
program it will include the following features:
A. BASIC COMPATIBLE reads coordinates/text from BASIC
ds
2. is callable from BASIC
3. allows use of 2468 symbols, too
B. FLEXIBLE 4. able to reside anywhere in memory
5. all symbols changible by the user
6
7
8
9
C. EASY TO USE short enough to load quickly
provides complete set of symbols
runs much faster than BASIC
keeps track of screen coordinates
One of the most constraining to achieve as it turns
out is #4. Without fixed addresses for each byte the
program has used two unused bytes at 23728 and 23729
(5CBO and 5CBl hex) to store it's location as a ref-—
erence. But more on that later.
Some who wrote me asked about "printer compata-
bility". As you will notice this does not appear on the
"short list". Now CLASSY FRONT END is really a screen
print environment, not another printer font. It is true
that CLASSY is compatable with the 2040 printer--several
letters I received were in NEW 2068 MEDIUM printed on
thermal paper which thrilled me (thanks, guys!).
But opening the old can. of printer-compatability-
worms is not what I want to do. Lest some would feel
hung out to dry, take heart that CLASSY keeps track of
text in its own font as well as the Sinclair font. Be-
14
BY PAUL BINGHAM
cause of this, any printer should be able to print in
its own font style by using standard ASCII codes. And
I'm sure you can, too. Just consult your interface and
printer manuals.
Foremost in the design of the machine code program
is how we will store as well as display the graphic
data for our new font. Our 2068 we know has a_ character
table in ROM starting at 15616 (3D00 hex). Here the
2068's 95 symbols are stored. The PRINT routine starting
at 8537 (2159 hex) looks up the codes stored in this
table for each symbol it prints.
It works something like this: first the routine
finds exactly where the code for the actual symbol
begins in the table. Next it reads the first of eight
bytes of code. This is always a number between O and
255. Remember reading someplace that all bytes contain
eight bits? It is true--by using this code the 2068
figures out which bits are set or not set and then the
PRINT routine darkens in the corresponding eight pixels
on the screen. By doing this with each of the succeeding
of the eight bytes, the PRINT routine assembles a pixel
pattern a line at a time on the screen. By this method
the 2068 can store the graphic information for the 64
pixels of each symbol.in only eight ‘bytes! Clever these
British...
To know just which code number represents which
pixel pattern is fairly easy to figure out. The program
in Listing #1 entitled "Z80 bit patterns" will let our
2068 do it for us. Be sure to have enough printer paper
on hand as the 2040 printout is almost three feet long.
(You will certainly need this if you do any alterations
or customizing of the font as listed.)
Listing l
PATERN COPE BITS SET
esecoces
Seeceaceal
eeoeo0aie
Seeeeooait
eeeecoiea
SSeco1a1
82000116
@SeGeolii
88861880
Ch sf CON be
i REN Z88 Bit Paterns
18 FOR t=65358 TO 65391: READ
GO: POKE t,o: NEXT t: BATA 255,12
8,1268,128,128,125,255,6.,255,254
2,254,254 ,254,254,255,6.,128,123,
128,128,123,128,128,6
8 LPRINT AT 6,5; "PA
TERN COCE BITS SE
3@ FOR f=8 TO 255: POKE 16384,
fF: LPRINT " ar Ro isi T
2 FO
46 LET bi} =POINT (i-1,175)
5S@ IF bli} =@ THEN LPRINT CHRS
144;,: GO TO 7@
6@ LPRINT CHRS 145;
78 NEXT i: LPRINT CHRS 146;"
F;AT @,20;b(1);b(2);b(3);,b(4);
5S); b(6);b(7};b(6): NEXT F
;
bt
But, you'might ask, the 2068 uses eight by eight
sized symbols. One of CLASSY's functions is to get away
from that! Indeed some of CLASSY's symbols are only
three pixels wide. However, all of CLASSY's symbols are
eight pixels HIGH. By doing a little extra code man-
ipulation using the instructions (covered nicely by Syd
Wyncoop in his past articles), we can produce our
patterns up instead pf across. This is similar to the
method some side-ways printer dump utilities one sees on
the market are using.
Examine the complete NEW 2068 MEDIUM font in Figure
1. Note the sequence of bytes for each symbol. The font
is nearly identical with the one in Part I with only
changes being to characters 126, 199, 200 and 201. The
actual data for the font is to be found in Listing 2.
Character 32 (a space) is missing as it is only zeros
and a simple increment of the printing coordinate will
take care of it.
Figure 1
then three
This may seem
a
If the character were only three pixels
like a waste of space, but if we want to change a symbol
later and it was say 5 wide instead of the original 3,
wide it would have a 3 in the first byte,
codes for the pattern and the rest zeros.
od
inp
aan
up each symbol.
G666e enm eracr
it
Then we will probably get
Due to the length of the actual code for CLASSY (it
comes in at just over 1.5K), we will be discussing
alterable character table with 98 symbols just about the
for the next two installments.
same length as Sinclair's original ROM table. Only this
we'd be in real trouble. What we end up with is a new,
time with a little more pizzaz!
t make
The first byte
The symbols are each stored, as in the 2068 itself,
in eight byte chunks: (refer to Figure 2).
tells how wide the character is to be. What follows are
the bytes (up to seven as in the case of #126) tha
into "windowing", etc. If you can't wait until next
time, I would be happy to send you an advanced copy of
the dissassembled listing. Just send one dollar ($1) to:
Paul Bingham, P.O. Box 2034, Mesa, AZ 85204. For the
program on tape send $5 (for all those who sent for
CLASSY from Part I, you need only send $3 for the tape).
See you next time!
Figure 2
MEMORY MAP OF FONT TABLE:
125 CHARACTER 126 127
succeeding
bit patterns
character width
eight bytes
Listing 2
1 REM CLASSY FRONT END FONT
1802 CATA 3,8,94,94,8,8,9,98.,5,8
@,0,7,0,8.,6,34,255,34,34,255
-,6,0,44,116,255,74,48,8
DATA 7,0,12,16,182,58,94,54
@,124,214,54,80,0.,3,0,4,3
@.,4,0,68,126,129,0,8,8.,
,126,68,8,8,8
TA 6,8,18,4,31,4,18,8.,6,
124,16,16,8.,3,8,144,112
2,5,8
28,08,
es 8
abo -
)24,24,24,24,0,8.,3
a,2
oo ORR Be
1030 DATA 4,8,96,24,6,0,9,0.,6,28
,60,126,82,74,58,2.,4,0,68,126,6
4,0,0,0.,5,08,188,93,82,76,0,8.,6
34, 74,125 ,58,8
G46 CATA 5,8,24,28,126,16,0,a.,
5,0,46,78,74,58,6,8.,6,08,56,124,
74,74,48,8.,5,28,2,214,26,14,0,8.
3 ; 4,74,52,8
4 ,12,94,82,82,68,0.,
3,0,48,49,8,8,98,6.,3,8,168,184,a
»@,8,68.,5,0,24,60,182,129,0,0.53
.40,48,408,8,8,8,08
1868 CATA 5,8,129,182,68,24,8,0.
76,8,4,2,82,94,12,8.,7,6,4,58,42
,122,66,58.,5,8,124,126,18,18,12
4,9.,6,8,125,126,74,74,52,0
1878 DATA 5,8,58,126,66,66,36,8.
,6,0,126,126,656,66,60,0.,6,0,126
.226,74,74,65,8.,6,8,126,126,18
10,2,0.,6,0,68,126,66,82,116,28
185@ DATA 5,8,126,126,8,8,126,a.
.5,0,66,126,125,66,8,8.,6,0,48,6
4,64,156,62,8.,6,2,126,126,24,36
,66,0.,6,8,125,126,64,64,64,98
4898 DATA 7,8,126,126,4,8,4,126.
,6,8,126,126,12,48,126,8.,6,28,620
,126,66,66,60,8.,6,8,126,126,13,
418,12,0.,6,8,62,126,82,98,252,0
1168 CATA 6,9,126,126,138,50,1283,
®.,6,0,44,118,74,74,48,8.,6,2,2,
126,126,2,2,8.,6,8,62,126,64,64,
62,8.,7,8,6,38,128,96.24,6
1118 DATA 7,8,52,126,64,45,64,62
-,;7,8,66,192,623,24,36,66.,7,2,6,
12,120,1228,4,2.,6,8,98,114,98,738
:79,0.,3,8,255,129,8,8,0,0
1128 DATA 4,2,6,24,96,0,0,8.,3,8
»129,255,8,8,8,28.,7,8,62,30,38,6
2,114,32.,6,128,128,128,128,128,
Reo Cra tC RoR eRe Aes plats Saas
1138 CATA _5,0,48,126,72,120,08,0.
:5,0,126,72,128,46,6,8.,5,0,48,1
28,72,72,8,8.,5,8,48,128,72,126,
6,@.,5,8,48,122,164,88,8,0
1148 DATA 4,2,2,126,18,8,6,0.,5,
8,176,248 ,288,248,8,8.,5,0,126,8
23,112,8,8.,4,8,72,122,64,0,8,8.
23,128,1253,122,8,6,8,8
15@ DATA 5,8,126,16,48,72,08,8.,
@,66,126,64,8,8,8.,7,8,120,128
122,8,112.,5,8,128,120,8,112,
»5,86,43,123,72,46,8,08
CATA 5,8,248,72,128,48,98,8.
48,128,72,248,8,8.,5,0,128,
8,8,8.,5,3,82,388,120,48,0,
2126,72,6,6,8
5,89,56,128,64,120,8,8.
96,24,28,8.,7,0,56,120
Cahier tee tac gee te yes
:
2
- BOM BO. Pi
er OUR BUS Oe
$4,96,56,2,08
2,72,104,83,72,0,0.,
1,8.,4,@,255,255,0,0
1@8,56,31,56,108,68
ATA 5,9,24,60,231,36,0,0.,
5,85,178,85,178,255,0.,3,28,2
2@,8,8,8.,7,24,48,96,48,8,4,
G
roar)
1,
6,
3,
@
1
6
2
S
i
6
4
2
RGB Interface For The TS2068
Tim Stoddard
RGB vs Other Methods
Ever since I purchased my TS2068 I have longed for a REAL RGB
interface. Sure, the display is OK on my 19” Sony, but the color is "washed
out” and there is that ever-present background hash. I thought that by
attaching a composite monitor to the monitor jack would at least clean up
the hash....but no, the hash remains! Thus began my work on THIS article.
Composite video is simply a combination or mixture of the three
basic signals common to all CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) based display devices.
First, there is the VERTICAL SYNC which is used to ‘lock’ the picture
vertically. Second, there is the HORIZONTAL SYNC which ‘locks’ the picture
horizontally. Then there is, of course, the VIDEO INFORMATION which
supplies the actual picture.
COMMON TVs
In the case of color displays there are three methods of getting
these signals to the monitor or TV. In the begining.......there was the RF
modulator. This is simply a VERY low power broadcasting station! All three
basic signals are combined to from the COMPOSITE signal, and then
‘broadcasted’ via a cable to your favorite TV. You, in turn, select channel
3 or 4 and, voila! The 'Gulpman’ appears on your screen. The advantages to
this type of interface are ease of hook-up, cost, and availablity of the
common color TV. The disadvantages are the BANDWIDTH of this type of
interface are LOW. This is seen as poor picture quality and ‘washed out’
color. There are two reasons for this; 1) The tuner circuitry in the TV and
RF modulator in the TS2068 cannot handle the high resolution modes that our
computer is capable of. 2) The 'common' TVs’ CRT DOT-PITCH is not good
enough for high-resolution color images. (More on this later). Then there
is that ANNOYING ’ background hash’!
16
COMPOSITE MONITOR
The second method is to send the composite signal directly to the
TVs' CRT circuitry, bypassing the tuner and the computers’ RF modulator.
This method works quite well because we are bypassing all that circuitry.
The display looks MUCH better but the color is still ‘washed-out’ due to
the fact that the DOT-PITCH of the TV is large. Also, the circuitry needed
to combine the color/syne signals in the computer end, and the circuitry
needed to separate the color/sync signals in the monitor end, add to the
distortion of the display and color. I probably would not have noticed this
except that I also have a QL with its’ RGB monitor and there is just no
comparing the RGB with a standard monitor or TV. So the Monitor connection
is much better than the RF modulator but, still, is not the best interface
available.
RGB_MONITOR
The third method is, by far, the most impressive in that the
quality and control of the color signals are absolute. Thie is accomplished
by sending the three color signals SEPARATELY to the monitor along with a
COMPOSITE SYNC signal containing the VERT and HORZ syncs. The disadvantages
to this method are the multi-wire cable needed to connect the monitor and
the cost of the monitor. Why is the RGB monitor more expensive? Most of the
cost of an RGB monitor is tied up in the CRT RESOLUTION and circuitry to
support it. A typical TV has a DOT-PITCH ( DOT-PITCH is the distance
between adjacent CRT pixels ) of about .85mm, where a good RGB monitor such
as the QL Vision monitor has a dot-pitch of .38m. You can really see the
difference! ; :
So we have two goals here; one, to convert our machines to RGB and
two, to get rid of that ANNOYING ‘background hash’!
CONSTRUCTION
r
=
This circuit was derived from a circuit appearing in the 2068 [
Technical Manual, page 57 and was modified to work with the QL Vision
monitor, although with the proper connector, it should work for any RGB
monitor. If you don’t have this book, GET IT! This is the single most
useful book for the 2068 and is published by TIME DESIGNS MAGAZINE. atch]
RF Hodulatar
Hous tick
We need a VERY CLEAN supply for this circuit to eliminate the | eo)
|
background hash. This hash is generated by the computers’ SVITCHING
REGULATOR. To accomplish this we will be ‘double regulating’ the supply to
the RGB sync circuit. This circuit just extracts the SYNC signals from the
TS2068 COMPSITE out-put. The color signals already exsist in the TS2068!
+12 VOLT REGULATOR
FPEGURE Hi +1le Regulatar
Using proper static precautions, remove the top keyboard case and
then the internal PCB, Using figure #1, locate and remove the 78L12A
regulator. It looks like a garden-variety transistor. Use a solderwick or
solder-sucker to remove the solder from the regulators PCB holes and then r
gently remove the wire leads. Next, install a 78M12 or 7812 regulator in
its’ place using figure #2 as a guide to orienting the new regulator. NOTB |
that I'm showing the BACK-SIDE of this regulator UP. Now cut a 12" piece of |
insulated wire and solder on end to the regulator as shown in figure #2. |
Leave the other end free for now. Leaving the PCB out of the case and :
making sure the PCB is insulated from contacting any metal, connect your TV
and power up the computer. You should get a NORMAL display with the
Sinclair copywrite notice. If you don’t POWER OFF!!!! Then check the
orientation of the new regulator again and correct. If you have a voltmeter
you can also check the output of this regulator to insure that it is at +12
volts, This point is the same point as the wire that was attached to the
regulator in figure #2.
RF Modulatar |
Using the schematic in figure #3 assemble the circuit on a small fa en e ees
piece of perf board. Then pick an area inside the case to mount the small | FEGURE #2 Hew Regutlatar
perf board assembly, (I used the area just above the right hand joystick
connector.) Use a small piece of two-sided foam tape to mount the perf
board. Next, attach the +12 volt wire previously soldered to the new +12 = BivE
volt regulator and solder it to the proper point on the perf board (The
input of the 78L05 voltage regulator). Now run a small wire from the
computer's composite out shown in figure #4 to capacitor Cl on the perf
board (see schematic in figure #3). Now run a ground wire from the perf
board (emitter of Q2) to a ground point on the computer PCB. A good place
is the ground plane just above the right joystick connector, Take the
6-wire shielded cable and solder the wire you'll be using for the COMPOSITE
SYNC to the perf board (collector of Q2). Salder the wires you'll be using
for the Red, Green, Blue signals to the computer's PCB at the points shown
in figure #4, then solder the wire to be used for monitor ground AND the
SHIELD wire to the main ground point in the computer which is located in
the center of the computer PCB. It has a large wire soldered there with
many other smaller wires and a cap attached to it. Lastly attach an 8 pin
DIN socket to the other end of the 6-wire cable, or if you'll be using a
different monitor, the proper plug to match that monitor.
GREEN
ComMPasTE = SYNC
GRound/s Hed
QL Monitor Connections
Q3
#12 vors
Fro
TS2068
#12 your
REGVLATR,
3
xu3
Reassemble the computer into the case and pick a place to route the 4 ¥x
wire out of the back of the computer (I chose the center-back of the case). yp 3 <j
Connect a TV and power supply to the TS2068 and power up. You should get 5st Sor
the copyright notice as normal. Power off and connect the RGB monitor ( you ——] & >
can leave the TV connected) and power up again. You should get some sort of GQueune. 3 ¢ 5 Sy
display on the RGB. Adjust the potentiometer R3 to get a stable Com pos (TE 2
display...NOTE NO BACKGROUND HASH!!!This circuit is designed for low-going VIDED
composite sync monitors which comprises about 90% of the RGB monitors (See FiGveé #4)
available. If yours is one of the 10%, drop me a line and I'll help you SYNC
out! All parts are obtainable at Radio Shack, including the 8 pin DIN level ae
socket. One source is a Tandy 1000 keyboard extension cable which has both Figure #3 AbjusT = SynucHed
a male and female in-cable connectors plus a 6-wire shielded cable for Pic TURE
$14.95 as part number 26-1389. If you want only the female connector they
only stock the PCB mountable connector and you'll have to ORDER that as
part number AJ7550 for $1.00 (It's a replacement socket for their Tandy
1000 computer!).
CoMprsivTe IK
LETTERS, NEW BBS, OFFERS!
Thanks for the many letters you have sent in support of my
articles! I have improved the TS2016 ram pack upgrade to allow usage with
the TS1500. Thanks to reader Earl Dunnington of Boynton Beach, Florida, for
inspiring me to accomodate the TS1500. For those of you wishing the latest
improvements in the upgrades for the ram pack or any other of my articles,
just send me a SASE and I'll return the latest info. Also Mark Fendrick,
columnist for Computer Shopper, has started up a new Sinclair BBS called
“SINCLAIR at NIGHT’. He has generously named me as the ZX81/TS1000
conference leader, so you can find me daily on that BBS. Please call in on
this board and support these great little machines! Hours are 2300 to 0600
daily, phone 718-627-1293. There curently are also TS2068 and QL sub-boards
FIGURE ta
(conferences) with new conferences added to the arrival of new computers +15 volts to
such as the THOR. You'll also find any late-breaking info about my articles P.c.6B.
on that BBS in the ZX81/TS1000 conference. For those of you who are not
hardware oriented, I am extending an offer I started with the Vancouver Dock Connector
Sinclair User Group to upgrade either the TS2016 ram pack for $25 US, or
the TS1000 internal 64K upgrade for $40 US. Just mail the ram pack or
computer or both (as many did in VSUG) and I'll convert and return via
insured mail. It would be a good idea to check with me ahead of time to see
how "swamped" I am. You can do this by mail (85-48 66th Road, Rego Park, 7} 7
NY, 11374), Compuserve (ID 73127,2664), or on the "Sinclair at Wight" BBS.
i+
Adding Professional Features to TASWORD TWO
By Duncan
If you have ever used a word processor for a more expensive
computer, like an Apple //e, you have noticed a few features not
found on Tasword Two. I requiarly use PFS:Write on the Apple //e
in my planetarium. (I apologize for having another computer in
addition to my beloved TS2068. My only excuse is having to have
the Apple to interface with a laser video disc player.)
Both word processors include many identical features: help
screens; word wrap; fast cursor movement by character, by word,
by line, by page, and to the beginning or end of the text file;
character and line insert and delete; block move and copy; left,
center, and right line formatting; reformatting of text after
insertions or deletions; optional right Justification; embedding
of printer control codes within the text file; and search and
replace. Whew!
Tasword Two is truly amazing, considering that it needs 88K
less
room
that
memory and costs $118.08 less than PFS:Write, but there is
for improvement. There are number of features PFS:Write has
are not included with a stock version of Tasword Two.
The modifications I have made allow Tasword Two to use tape
or (Aerco FO48) disk for loads and saves, catalog either of two
disk drives, "reboot" either drive, print headers and footers,
print multiple copies with all the pages properly numbered, skip
perforations after a selectable number of lines, and count the
number of words in a text file.
I’m greatly indebted to articles in the February/March 1986
issue of ZX Computing and the May 1985 issue of Sinclair User.
Thanks to Mike deSosa for sending me the latter article.
The ZX Computing article was, of course, written about
Spectrum version of Tasword Two. I had to modify the machine
code for the word count routine before it would work correctly
on the TS2668. This has appeared previously in Time Designs.
The Sinclair User article, by John Lambert, is the earliest
source I’ve seen for selectable lines per page, page numbering,
multiple printouts, headers, footers, and custom color selection
for the screen. The listing, however, has a number of bugs.
The footer and pagination don’t always appear in consistent
positions at the bottom of the page. The page count is off under
certain conditions. The LPRINT command to print the footer Is
Ignored by the TS2068 version of Tasword Two. Finally, a list of
the
addresses to poke with new values to change the paper and _ ink
colors of the text file, the prompt area at the bottom of the
screen, and the margins is incomplete. The information below
will "correct" the listing in Sinclair User.
Any modifications to Tasword Two should be preceded by the
Incorporation of as many memory saving tricks as possible. Mike
de Sosa is responsible for several. He used tokens and variables
to represent often used GOSUB lines and frequently used numbers
for TABs and calculations. Here is a fairly complete list.
@® = NOT PI 12 = tw 64 = sf 4600 = Ft
1 = SGN PI 14=w 858 = ef 4908 = gs
i@=t 31 = th 956 = nf 7006 = nt
One could also have used variables for @ and 1, say "z" and "o."”
Some additional memory was saved by reducing the amount of
text in screen prompts and in the menu. I don’t believe any
clarity is lost by these changes.
Another change I made renders Tasword Two compatible with a
word processor whose default page format is a one-inch margin at
the top and bottom of the page. The margin area is usually where
headers and footers are printed. In Keeping with convention, two
blank lines are printed, then the header, and then three blank
lines. Six lines equals one inch. Then the text file starts. The
header is printed on every page in the document, but it uses up
no space in the text file.
The footer is likewise separated from the last line of the
text file on a given page by three blank lines. The footer Is
printed next. Then the current page number and total number of
pages in the document is printed on the next line. Finally a
form feed is sent to the printer. This effectively leaves one
blank line after the automatic page numbering.
When I first typed in the Sinclair User listing, the footer
would not print out at all. This is why Mike sent me the article
in the first place. Repositioning a USR call solved the problem.
The original Sinclair User listing allowed for the number
of lines per page to be specified along with Tasword’s line
spacing choice. It failed to take into account the extra blank
lines needed to Keep the footer in a consistent place when line
spacing is greater than one.
I€ a document has a one inch margin at the top and bottom,
then 54 lines of text will fit on a standard page. If the line
spacing is one, then.everything gets printed in the right place.
If the line spacing is three, then Tasword prints a line and
skips two lines until it gets to the 18th line ¢54/3=18).
It prints the 18th line, then thinks, “I’m through printing
lines on that page," fails to put in two blank lines, and prints
the footer. This puts the footer and page numbering two lines
higher than it should be. An addition to line 298 tells Tasword
to print "line spacing minus one" blank lines between the last
line of text on the page and the footer and pagination.
Another problem occurred when the Sinclair User
calculated how many pages it would take to print an
document, given the user-specified lines per page and the
listing
entire
line
R. Teaque
spacing. If the text just happened to fill the final page of a
multi-page document, the page counter calculated one page too
many. An addition to line 25@ prevents “one" from being added to
the page count if the total number of lines divided by the lines
per page is an Integer. ,
The final consideration is the alteration of the screen
colors. POKE the following addresses to change the text area to
your choice of paper and ink, where "C" is calculated by the
formula "C = (8 * paperd+ink."
POKE 58512, 54 POKE 58521, 54
POKE 58513, C POKE 58522, C
For example, to use red paper with black ink, you use the
formula "C = (8 * 2) + @ = 16."
A surprise may await you after you’ve changed the text area
paper and ink colors. If you try to set left and right margins,
your text may disappear or your margins may be Invisible if you
chose certain incompatible combinations. To alter the paper and
Ink colors in the margins for suitable contrast and visibility,
POKE the following addresses with your selection according to
the aforementioned formula.
POKE 58508, 54
POKE 58509, C
POKE 58517, 54
POKE 58518, C
Now that you’ve customized the text area and margins,
you
can alter the ink and paper of the bottom two lines where line
and column numbers, justification, word wrap, and Insert mode
status are shown. To alter the two status lines, POKE new values
into the respective addresses. The value of "C" is calculated in
the manner shown previously.
POKE 59993, C (top) POKE 64578, C ‘(bottom
The final touch-up is color selection for the 64-column and
32-column mode borders. You can change the following addresses
to indicate your choice of BORDER color’. The value of "B" equals
the paper color you want. Thus “B" ranges from @ to 7.
POKE 64516, B ¢64-column)> POKE 68641, B ¢32-column>
Continued on Page 20...
LARKEN ELECTRONICS
DISK INTERFACES
woonnnon= LARKEN 2068 / spree DISK SYSTEM -----------
- The system consists of the LKDOS cartridge and a Double
Density rear disk interface. 800K on a Quad Drive
~ Fully 3068 / Spectrum compatible / 0S-64 compatible
- It uses all standard (Token) keyboard cassette commands
CAT MERGE ERASE FORMAT LOAD SAVE PRINT and more
Uses NO RAM space . HAS 8K ROM and 8K RAM on board
NMI heaory Save Feature :PUSH-BUTTON eropeas transfer
A KEMPSTON compatible ia ete port is also on the IF.
Also, 10 Extended Basic Commands for Graphics, Utilities
and up to 3 scrolling Windows on the screen . An Aerco
compatible printer driver is also in the Lkdos Cartridge
The disk interface is a compact rear mounted board that
can support 1 to 4; 3” 3.5" or 5.25" SS,DS or Quad Drives
- Easy to setup . 90 day guarantee
xx ATTENTION ¥4%% AERCO FD68 and RAMEX DISK USERS
The LKDOS cartridge is now available for your disk IF’s .
It will allow your disk systems to be fully Spectrum and
OS-64 compatible and Larken disk compatible and have all the
commands mentioned above . Also a SNAP-SHOT save button can
added . RAMEX users will now be able to use all the memory .
AERCO users can now have all of the above features plus
the Lkdos uses the Aerco Ram as a RAM-DISK !
PRICES : (US) 2068/Spectrum Disk System
Add $5 S&H LKDOS Cartridge. (Aerco,Ramex)
ZX-81 Disk Controller
256K Non-Volatile Ram Disk (TBA)
Drive Floppy cable #8.00
% LARKEN ELECTRONICS RR#2 NAVAN ONTARIO CANADA K4B-1H9 %
$119.95
$65.00
$99.00
FOOTE SOFTWARE
The FOOTE PRINT PRINTER INTERFACE
© tor Centronics parallel printers
@ works in both 2068 and Spectrum mode
® compatible with OS-64 & Spectrum emulators
e EPROM socket and on/off switch on board
© works with both Tasman and Aercodriver software
® plugs into cartridge dock—door completely
closes with cable running back under computer
@ frees up rear edge connector allowing other
peripherals to be used; less chance of a crash
@ print driver software for LPRINT, LLIST, and
COPY included for 2068 and Spectrum modes
— FootePrint Interface w/software & cable $45
SOFTWARE = 182068 TS1000 eo otePrint with OS-64 option included . $65°
Bare board & instructions only .......... $ 20°
recnremrar eprents ee ree $7.95 Cable only for use with bare board ....... $1500
Calorie Counter......ccccccc----89.95 $5.95 Zero Insertion Force Socket option add $10
U.S.A. (Pres. & States 8 Caps.)....89.95 $5.95
Gambler (poker).......cccccscceseceeees $9.95 THE BEST OF
CHR$ (char. 8 graphics generator) $12.95
Hangman & TIC—TAC—TOLE................ $5.95
Brother M1109 Dot Matrix Printer, compact, low fe SINCLAIR/TIMEX USERS MAGAZINE
noise, 100 CPS, both Parallel and Serial inter~
faces, multiple typestyles with near letter
quality print mode and 4k memory buffer, comes
with tractor feed unit......... $249.95
A compilation of the best articles, reviews, programs,
The Best of SUM and hardware projects
Some sample articles include: Building Your Own
Spectrum Emulator, Repairing Your TS-1000, Word Mie Bestel oye ral
Processing Reviews for the 2068, UDGs on the TS-
1000, Extensive Review of the Zebra Disk System,
Adding a Keyboard to the 2068, and Enhancing the
A & J Microdrive. 112 pages
Articles include Building an EPROM Program-
mer, Sprites on the 2068, Adding RGB to 2068. QL
Word Processing, What's Available for TS-1000,
and muchmore. 60 pages
Price: $11.95 Price: $7.95
FOOTE %%, SOFTWARE P.O. Box 14655 — Gainesville, FL 32604 904/462-1086 (6 pm - 9 pm EDT)
All prices are pre-paid and include shipping charges. Florida residents must add 5% state sales tax.
The final modifications I’ve made to my copy of Tasword pee Bel PEVAL TE MOVES” BOOB
involve the use of my Aerco FD68 Disk system. The save and load 705 MOVE “tasword. bin") 52610,12
routines allow both tape and disk to be used. The difference is 2ee eS ares p
in the use of an "#" to prefix disk file names or to catalog the 720 PRINT SNOT pt; AT NOT PI,NOT
disk before loading or merging a text fille. At Tasword’s “STOP" PI
3 Press ENTER to go back to
menu, PAUSE NOT PI: GO TO VAL "
zee LET bSFN P(VAL "62216"): CL
1005 PRINT AT VAL “S",NOT PI; "Na
me text file-Prefix * for disk":
LET ist: LET j@=NOT PI: GO suUB
menu, you can also use appropriate Keys to catalog drive A (<=),
catalog drive B (>=), or reboot (<>).
lf you’d like to save yourself some typing, I’11 supply a
tape or disk of my modifications to the BASIC portion of Tasword
for $6.08 postpaid. I’11 also include the machine code routine
which provides a count of the number of words in the text file gs
when you go to the main menu. Contact me at 3308 Bluemont Drive, pert aU ON eet PRINT AT su pans
Memphis. Tennessee (38134). Pry"
Here are some notes on the program lines: ne = 2 " Bo:
paQeneN LET tens=a-c: GO TO VAL 1029 IF LEN NOT PI THEN chs
15 - 26: variables defined for memory savings a Der yen’ Se Re iNT pee eae p71, [aGGEE mem": 60 To UAL ee
25 tomy choice of STOP menu paper and ink colors “First page ', GO SUB 96: Go Siu 1@25 IF as(SGN_PI) ="#" THEN LET
: USR 52618 is for the word count routine n oeees (et bint nowy LET istw: LE
95 : establishes "<=" key to catalog drive A _240 LET. L_ag-SGN PI: LeT i og SS°HRGe RAGL EBIRS Bap tEER
106 : establishes ">=" Key to catalog drive B ra Sohes can a Sleds eo sue "1040"
105 : establishes "<>" key to reboot selected drive At a APSO LET ete sSAUE a SCORE? bs
208 : lines/page POKEd into unused address 33228 250 LET cosVAL af: LET end=st+l 1040 PRINT AT VAL_"S",NOT PI; a8;
225 : "len" = total characters to print oPE "Une “eaegs") esfo LET tet 1 Saved: "J AT t NOT PIjaj" bytes,
258 1 "pl" = total characters to print on each page T ((lenvpl)+(SGN PI AND lLensple> 1On0 OREN OST rine Sado ett ane
i "tp" = total pages to print (if len/p! is not INT Areata FOR n=SGN PI TO eae; "2": LET isw: GO SUB UAL Bg
an integer, then 1" is added to "tp"> Bo fest To end-sGn PIesTEP pi; Le 28%; IF isNOT PI THEN GO TO tet
265 : “aS" is temporarily the document’s header T b : LET x=VAL "60045": GO’ SUB Toten LEN a$>t THEN GO TO VAL
278 : 2 line feeds; the header; 3 line feeds nf; LET Cpscet+SGN PI: RANDOMIZE 419@ CLS_: PRINT "Start tape": vu
296 t proper # blank lines print if line spacing >1 CER p TOAL reoa so") TO NCES. PRENT Tiio PRINT A bia Pee eee
292 : "as" is temporarily the document’s footer .AT t, NOT _PI;"Key “q’ to halt pre Lapis [cnc saat oe) ee
294 : 3 line feeds; then the footer; SU te a er ies pee oe ees 2800 CLS PRINT AT VAL "S",NOT.
296 : then the pagination; then a form feed é€ 8 ";¢p: IF end-f<el THEN LET 6 a eae the pene of the eas
298 : USR 59806 moved here to allow "LPRINTs" above =end-f: LET fl=SGN PI: GO TO VAL 4 ? Fee Eee
299 : "€" is pages; "n" is number of copies DSS LET b=pl 201@ PRINT AT tw,VAL “2"; "Just p
728 : save BASIC <"boot" name for disk auto boot? 260 LET X=UAL “60@49": GO SUB Nn areas Ed) ENS 2A: weene
785 t save machine code (extra code for word count) f_ - i, ; SRer Mey alae
18608 ff: tape/disk text file save routines Son CBRINE CHS trenee tie Bo 5 2015 LET j@=NOT PI: LET i=VAL "1
2008 ff: tape/disk text file load/merge routines UB UAL "8000": CPRINT CHR tiCHR S5i5S9- SUE 98...
$ t;CHRS t 20 IF ae x. HBS PRINT AT VA
8808 : GOSUB to center the header and footer 206 LET cC=PEEK VAL “s247aQ": F Lo"416",VAL "9 :
9888 : GOSUB frequently used by print options c<oNOoT or THEN LPRINT CHRS c Bs GO TO VAL "2030" "
289 RANDOMIZE USR VAL "60038" aot e ache oe CET aReo Ere eOe
@ CLS : LET a<USR VAL “64330" 285 LET c=PEEK VAL “62471": IF he ely Te SA BRE
fat eres c¢<>NOT PI THEN LPRINT CHR# ¢
+ edt ete es BaO Te FLESEN PL OR PEER USL “g@ 2026 IF _b=109 THEN LET b=FN Pp (YR
oe ee MRE ean MET ORM Leo oe BESS" SGN PT THEN FOR 92SGN Pi Tf &, 162216"); LET c=C(FN pivAL "62
ee PORE Unc “Sa605" UAL “BN: O ((pl-b) sPEEK URL "62235"/srePE 2240) +UAL "ee" ) es f-a): LET ag=a$
A " weer is “het EK VAL "62235"-SGN PI): LPRINT G ZSTRS (ath) el,+STRE ¢
LEAR VAL “sse79"), LET taval "19 Big te NESE e : 2029 CAT “ag",: GO TO t
Sab Sh evAby Jee eee CeCe 292 LET a%="Type Footer Here" 2030 LET b=FN P(VAL “62216"): LO
S00": Go SUB Fe UML hgsuoce sp} 294 LPRINT CHRS t;CHR& t;CHRs t AD agCODE (a+b), ( (FN pC(VUAL "6e22
DabSR USL SB e8t 8. Go TO t : GO SUB UAL "sao! 1"iett+twiaesf-a): GO TO t
“BO CLS: LET a=sfsiINT tavef+vA 296 FOR 9=SGN PI TO VAL “25"+PE
oe eee en eet aN coe EK VAL _"6a927": LPRINT " “j: NEX
SEU aE ORE TE LORD hatte Pee Tog: LPRINT “Page # “;cp;"'ar "3
w=VAL "14": LET th=sVAL "S34": LET = age
Sete et pep Eee NEURAL oSar tpiCHR$ tw 8@0@ FOR g=SGN PI TO (VAL "“SO"-L
CET gssUAL "6000": LET nt=UaL © 298 RANDOMIZE _USR VAL_"S9ea6": EN a8) UAL "at: CPRINT & oii NEX
esa? IF S=NOT PI THEN bo To mick IF INKEY$="4" THEN GO TO SGN PI T 9: LPRINT a$;CHRS t: RETURN
-9s. 7 : : 295 \NEX? f> NEXT nn? GO TO SGN P Sore BeTGeN ) UNEN BED caeer 2.
25 PAPER VAL "“S'': INK _ NOT PI: rt
CLS 2: GO SUB ft: PRINT AT VAL "4
‘,NOT PI; "Edit file C";USR VAL "
52610";" words)"; TAB th; "YY"
26 PRINT ‘"Save file"; TAB th;"
5"
PRINT ‘"“Load file”’;TAB th;"
we BYTE POWER is a highly sophisticated
Me PRINT ‘"Merge file’; TAB th; conputerized nag nagazine on cassette for
49 PRINT ‘"Print file"; TAB th; the 1/5 2068 and Sinclair Spectrun.
45 PRINT ‘"Save Tasword FD68"; No longer will you have to type in 1
TAB th; "T" : . fastidious prograns...JUST LOAD AND
Pe party Te ‘“Graphics/Printer”’;T
é -opASsTAN: sage BYTE POWER is the ultinate beret with over 130 prograns per
SS PRINT BASIC"';TAB th; "B
70 PRINT AT t+t, VAL "11") "BROS + fost of then in fest nachine language. such as
Ss keu fl ther, CONSTRUX, SSP C3nall Screen Painter), HUNTERS.
60 LET ae pea ag IF ag="" THE FUNNY FACES are sone exanples of the hi uality prograns
NSO. ORE eect. (er ccesee ae published in BYTE POWER Magazine. BYTE brings you this
ght pRSVAL "9?" THEN LET b=beth+ quality progrenning at a very snall cost...
95 IF_b=VAL "199" THEN CAT “a: ---LESS THAN 39 CENTS A PROGRAM, based on a year subscription.
",: GO TO VAL "720"
200 TPB SVAL 200" THEN CAT “b: 1 Issue (Current or Back Iseues).........ccccccccceccc cee co $0 d0
VAL "728"
405 IF b=VAL "201" THEN CAT “bo 6 Issues (Starting with Current op any Back iseue)........$29.99
ot.bas", : 12 Issues (Starting vith Current or any Back issue).......949.99
Anne IF bSVAL "115" THEN LET is wren oy sibs
s ie se ce ass ae Sla'sie dinisisigns Sabig swe ou sbnes stele soe eecs'seses ROMS
Atoeene b=VAL 106"" THEN LET i= Ciny 6 Back 4 in a high quality ving! albund
125 IF beVAL "116" THEN LET i =w
Gane IF beVAL "11a" THEN LET is ar gn fron oe eee et for Us ia ey al oes
a AGtaces Ate od for 2068 and Sinclair Spectrum. Write for nore infornation
me nants. b=VAL 121° THEN LET i=v hout issues and their contents.
15@ IF b=VAL "1@9" THEN LET i=t
ane? ae bSUAL “103" THEN LET i =U ALSO AVAILABLE FROM BYTE POWER...
gee eee. UREN ee aone DEMONSTRATION / CATALOG Tape. .......ccsccececescecescesces #200
160 IF i>NOT PI THEN PRINT AT i
ithe PhpsH ooh Pe, curs (b-th-SGN BYTE POWERS FIRST CLASS FONTS...............$12.00 Postage Paid
a eae axe Conpilation of all FONTS used in BYTE POWER Magazine sae
198 GO TO VAL "6®@ " #98 Plus a uhole lot naref?? see
200 CLS_: GO SUB _ ft: PRINT AT VU
AL _ "2",VAL "9"; "PRINT ORT TONS 24
BYTE POWER’S FIRST CLASS PROGRAMS CPROGRAM TAPE 1).....917.00 PP
see 9 prograns for the ZH61 C1/3 1000-1500) on 1 tape sae
U.S. FUNDS ONLY
t+tw: LET x=VAL reSb20", LET.
“"Lines/sPage=": GO SUB ef: LET.
VAL "S": PRINT AT i,NOT PI; "L
spacing=1": GG SUB gs: GO
21@ POKE VAL "“62235",VAL ag:
Veto cG PRINT AT i,NOT PI; "St
i sl": ‘
220 LET c=sf* (INT VAL a$-SGN
Y: LET stec+FN pCVAL Baas ae :
ET izstw: PRINT AT i,NOT PI;'
Sh Lineslast": GO SUB gs: tpt
Send Check or Money Order to...
BYTE POWER
1746 Keadowview Avenue.
Pickering. Ontario. Canada L1¥ 368 BYTE POWER’S FIRST CLASS FONTS
OvOZIFACHIOIMOODD
TIME DESIGNS
News from
Zebra Systems
Zebra Systems has excite-
ment buzzing in the air!
We've added new staff, new
mailist capabilities and,
our very own desktop pub-
lishing group to keep our
customers up to date on
Timex Sinclair product
changes, new product in-
troductions, industry hap-
penings, and more!
The recently released
Summer Issue of the Zebra
Systems catalog is our very
first desktop publishing
achievement, and we are
very proud. It is attached
here for your shopping con-
venience, and we know you
are going to like the prod-
ucts and the prices.
We Need Your Help
To Send You
Free Catalogs!
During the first week of Ju-
ly, Zebra Systems mailed
out 8,000 free catalogs to our
recent customers, those of
you who requested catalogs,
and T/S Clubs. We are well
aware that our mailist has
not previously been kept up
to date with all your current
mailing address informa-
tion. For this reason, we
are asking all Timex Sin-
clair Users who wish to re-
main on our mailing list
and continue to receive our
free Timex Sinclair Prod-
ucts Catalogs to return the
coupon on this page or, the
back cover of the Summer
Catalog just mailed to you.
=< Zebra S ystems, Inc.
eee 06 Jamaica Ave., SA ta NY es (718) 296-2385
Don't delay. We have al-
ready begun work on our
Fall 1987 Catalog.
Attention Timex-
Sinclair Club Members
We will gladly send you as
many catalogs as you wish
for your club meetings or
for inclusion in your club
mailings. Or, if you prefer,
send us your club member-
ship list, and we will mail
catalogs directly to each
member. In addition, our
customers often ask us if
we know of an active TS
Club in their part of the
country that they can par-
ticipate in. If you have any
doubts that we know about
your club's existence,
please write to us.
FDD User
Newsletters Mailed
Zebra Systems recently
mailed the first in a series
of informative newsletters
to all of the registered Ze-
bra FDD Users. (If you own
a Zebra FDD and did not get
your copy, be sure to con-
tact us immediately.) The
newsletter received tremen-
dous applause from those
active FDD supporters.
MTERM
Price Drop!
As a correction to our Sum-
mer Catalog we want to an-
nounce that the prices on
both MTERM/T and
MTERM II have been dras-
tically reduced. These are
the prices we intended to
have on catalog page 9:
oat
JULY/AUGUST 1987
MTERM/T is $8.95, and
MTERM/II is $14.95.
Our Thanks
We would like to thank
Frank Davis, Paul Holm-
gren, and all of the other
people who worked so hard
to help make the 1987
MidWest Timex Sinclair
Computer Festival such a
great success.
ar. oil
I
J Yes, I want to be on,
ithe Zebra Mailist. 1
potate
1Computer:
I ZX81/TS1000
' 781500
,—1S2068
1--QL
I__TS2040 or Alphacom 32.
180-Col.
aniee Interface___
Printer:__
IDo you ever call BBS's?__ |
IComputer Club Member-!
ae” Larken Dis
When I was looking for a disk operating system, the
first thing I wanted was a system that would work on ALL
of the ROM configurations available for the TS2068. At
that time, I was running MSCRIPT, TASWORD II witha
Spectrum Emulator, and ZTERM modem software with the
Zebra OS-64 cartridge. Secondly, I was looking for a
system which would leave me the largest amount of RAM
possible because I was working mostly with large data-
base and word processor type programs. Finally, I needed
a system that would be simple to use and also within my
limited budget. I searched in vain until the answer
appeared almost in my own back yard [Ed.- Mr. Solly
currently lives in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada].
The new Larken DOS dveloped by Larry Kenny of
Larken Electronics, was like having my every wish come
true. The disk operating system (DOS) fits neatly onto a
cartridge which loads into the Timex Command Cartridge
port. For a little bit extra, a second socket, fitted
with a switch, can be added to the cartridge, to hold an
additional chip that the user may own, such as a
Spectrum Emulator, or a Zebra OS-64.
The rear circuit card is a compact double-density
disk drive interface which also has a Kempston joystick
port and a Non-Maskable Interrupt. (NMI) push button.
Because the DOS is “burned into its own EPROM, all the
RAM of the computer is available to the user. The DOS
is completely accessable whether you are using the
standard Timex Sinclair ROM, the Spectrum Emulator ROM,
or the Zebra OS-64 software ROM. Programs which are de-
signed to run on both the TS2068 and Spectrum, need not
be saved in two different formats to be re-loaded into
each ROM configuration. A formated double-sided, double-
density 80-track disk drive is capable of saving up to
800K of programs.
Converting programs to run on the Larken DOS, once
the hardware is installed and the DOS is called into
operation by RANDOMIZE USR 100: OPEN# 4, "dd", is
essentially a snap. The Larken DOS uses the same
Sinclair tokens (which are found on the 2068 keyboard),
as the tape-driven systems. After learning a few simple
instructions and four mnemonic extensions, I was ready
to handle most programs. The necessary adjustments
needed to convert tape drive commands to Larken DOS
commands can be quickly illustrated by the following
chart of equivalents.
Tape Drive Command
SAVE "Name"
SAVE "Name" LINE 10
SAVE "Name" CODE
Larken DOS Command
PRINT #4: SAVE "Name. Bn"
PRINT #4: SAVE "Name.Bn" LINE 10
CNo equivalent]
SAVE "Name" CODE s,1 PRINT #4: SAVE "Name.Cn" CODE s,1
SAVE "Name" SCREENS PRINT #4: SAVE "Name.Cn" SCREENS
SAVE "Name" DATA A() PRINT #4: SAVE "Name.An" DATA A)
SAVE "Name" DATA AF) PRINT #4: SAVE "Name.AS" DATA A¥()
LOAD "Name" PRINT #4: LOAD "Name. Bn”
LOAD "Name" LINE 10 PRINT #4: LOAD "Name.Bn" LINE 10
LOAD "Name" CODE PRINT #4: LOAD "Name.Cn" CODE
LOAD "Name" CODE s PRINT #4: LOAD "Name.Cn" CODE s
LOAD "Name" CODE s,1 PRINT #4: LOAD "Name.Cn" CODE s,1
LOAD "Name" SCREENS PRINT #4: LOAD "Name.Cn” SCREENS
LOAD "Name" DATA AC) PRINT #4: LOAD "Name.An" DATA A)
LOAD "Name" DATA A¥() PRINT #4 LOAD "Name.AS" DATA A¥*%)
THE NEW LARKEN DISK-OPERATING SYSTEM: consists of two
k-Operating System
DAVID SOLLY
A "name" in LKDOS can be any combination of
letters, numbers and graphics, up to six characters plus
the appropriate extension. The "name" may also be in an
alpha-numeric string so long as it follows the proper
format and its total length is not longer than nine
characters. If the "name" is to be stored in a DIM'ed
alpha-numeric array, which I do not recommend although
it can be done, then the array can not be any _ longer
than nine characters of which the final three characters
must be the proper extension.
The Larken DOS also has commands and error reports
which are specific to its own operating system plus a
number of .extended BASIC commands. Here are two examples
of Larken commands:
PRINT #4: CAT "",
This is a very useful command that not only allows the
user to see what has been stored on the disk but also,
thanks to the use of unique extensions, what kind of
files have been stored, the length in blocks of each
file, and the total number of free blocks available. In
the TS2068 ROM and the Zebra OS-64 mode, the user . can
also specifiy which type of file he wishes to be listed
by entering, for example, CAT ".B", when searching for
just BASIC programs. Specific program names can also be
searched in this manner. :
PRINT #4: OPEN# 3,"1p"
This command will allow you to LPRINT and LLIST to a
full size printer that uses Aerco-type printer in-
terface.
The extended BASIC commands available on Larken DOS
allow the user to create geometric shapes with the DRAW
and CIRCLE commands and then to fill them with any of 10
different patterns. Also available are a double POKE
command (also known in some BASIC's as DOKE), window
creating commands, and a command which will read and
LPRINT an ASCII text file directly from disk.
Finally, the Larken DOS has a number of new error
reports to make operations easier for the user. These
reports are: § - Protect Error
- File Not Found
~ Disk Full
Wrong File Type
- Invalid Command
-~ Cat Data Error
- CRC Error (number)
Larry Kenny told me that he plans to add sequential
file capabilities and other disk support software to his
Larken system.
The cost of the new Larken system for the TS2068
(which does not include the actual drives or disk drive
power supply), is $119.95 (U.S.). Optional extra socket
for add-on ROMs is $6.00. The system may be ordered
directly from the manufacturers Larken Electronics,
RR #2 Navan, Ontario, Canada K4B-1H9, tel. (613) 835-
2680; or several dealers have them in stock, including
RMG Enterprises, Weymil Corp., and Variety Sales.
xECCH
i
parts a) a cartridge board that fits into
the Timex Sinclair 2068 cartridge port which contains the DOS software, and b) a circuit card
that plugs into the rear expansion slot, which is the actual disk drive interface. This card
also has a feed-through connector for attaching other Timex peripherals.
The Disciple Disk-Operating System
TONY BROOKS
The Disciple Interface is primarily a disk in-
terface, but it also offers several other features which
probably make it the best value in disk interfaces for
the Sinclair Spectrum currently available. The Disciple
is intended for use on a 48K Spectrum. To use it on a
TS2068, it requires the addition of a "twister" board
and a Spectrum ROM or Emulator. I have found that the
Disciple works with every combination of Spectrum ROM,
ROMSWITCH, Emulator, and twistor board I have tried. I
even had success with the TK9OX ROM from the Brazilian
clone of the Spectrum. In this respect, the Disciple is
much more tolerant than the Sinclair Microdrives.
The Disciple will support any of the popular size
drives from 3 inches to 5.25 inches, in single, double
or quad density. Up to two drives can be supported and
they may have different specs. Thus drives of different
sizes and densities can be used at the same time.
The DOS is supplied on a cassette tape. When I
first received my Disciple, DOS version 2b was supplied
but turned out to be a very poor quality recording
which took much effort to LOAD. This experience was
shared by users who received this DOS version. I wrote
to Rockfort Products about this tape, and promptly re-
ceived a new tape with DOS version 2c on it. This new
tape loaded just fine, and the new DOS version also
solved one other problem, namely, the earlier DOS was
prone to resetting the computer from time to time...the
new version 2c DOS does not have this problem.
The advantage of having the DOS system on tape is
that you can easily configure it to meet your own re-
quirements. I think this is an improvement over those
disk systems which have their DOS on EPROM, that is not
so easy to change. Upon loading the system tape, you are
asked a series of questions to configure the DOS to your
disk set up and also to configure the built-in printer
interface and network port. When this is done, you are
asked if you wish to format a disc and save the con-
figured DOS to that disk. Thereafter, the Disciple may
be started up by inserting the system disk in drive 1
and hitting the RUN key on the 2068. Loading of the DOS
and programs is very fast--a maximum of 3.5 seconds for
a full 48K program. Thus from switching on the computer,
loading the DOS and then a program takes less than 10
seconds. The DOS is resident in the Disciples memory and
so takes up none of the memory (RAM) of the TS2068 or
Spectrum.
I put a copy of the DOS on every disk since it only
takes up 3K of disk space. The amount of space on a disk
can be up to 720K after formatting. This is enough for
fourteen 48K programs on a double-sided 80 track disk if
one allows some space for the DOS. One program can have
the title “autoload" and this will automatically load
after the DOS. I put a one line autoload program to
CATalog the contents of a disk on each disk I use.
I am using the Disciple with a single-sided 40
track 5.25 inch drive left over from an unfortunate ex-
perience with the Kempston Disk Interface. I have turned
most of my disks into "flippies" by cutting an extra
notch in them so I can use both sides on a single sided
drive. This means I have had the DOS on both sides of
the disk but I can get a minimum of six 48K programs
per disk.
The DOS uses two kinds of syntax. One is an exact
clone of the Sinclair Microdrive syntax, the other is a
"simplified" syntax. Both syntaxes may be mixed freely.
The simplified Disciple syntax usually consists of
placing "di" or "d2" between the instruction and the
aS
a
filename. Thus loading .a Disciple disc. file can be
achieved by using the command LOAD dl "filename", and
formatting a disk with the command FORMAT dl. Programs
can also be loaded by typing LOAD pn--where n is the
file number given when you CATalog a disk. This CATalog
function gives details of file type, and for code files
their size and location. The microdrive syntax is very
useful when transferring microdrive based software to
disk since usually these programs will run from disk
without any alteration. I was able to transfer micro-
drive versions of TASWORD II and THE LAST WORD to disk
and use them immediately without any change.
No disk system is of much use if you cannot trans-
fer your software to disk fairly easily. The Disciple
has one of those NMI "magic buttons" that are so popular
on many mass storage interfaces. The Disciple magic
button works as well as any, taking just a few seconds
to save a program from ANY point. Such files takes up a
full 48K of disk space regardless of file length. Since
the Disciple takes up no 2068 memory it is also easy to
transfer software by breaking it down into its component
parts, but unless you feel a need to conserve disk space
or like to analyize software, it is even easier to use
the NMI button. 5.25 disks are so cheap that I don't
feel much need to conserve disk space.
The Disciple printer port is a very tolerant beast.
The microdrive versions of TASWORD II and THE LAST WORD
I referred to above, both printed just fine, even though
the former word processor was set up for a TASMAN B
printer interface, and the latter program for a Euro-
electronics ZXLPRINT III interface. It is also possible
to dump a screen to a printer by simultaneously pressing
CAPS SHIFT and the Disciple "magic button".
The Disciple has two standard Atari type joystick
ports. The right hand port is said to be compatible with
Sinclair or Kempston protocol--the left hand port is
only Sinclair compatible. However, I have had problems
getting the joysticks to operate properly using the
Sinclair protocol. The right port has worked fine for me
in Kempston mode.
I have not tried using the network facility very
much. However, I have been able to send software from
a 2068 fitted with Sinclair microdrives to the Disciple
network port, and vice versa. I have also successfully
sent programs from the Disciple to a QL.
Does the Disciple have any drawbacks? So far only
one thing has disappointed me. I have been unable to
operate the Disciple with any peripheral attached. This
is not too serious since the Disciple has effectively
replaced my separate joystick adaptor, printer inter-
face, Interface 1, and Multiface 1, However, I would
like to have been able to use Multiface 1 and a light
pen interface with the Disciple. The Disciple does have
an inhibit button which disables it and then one can use
other peripherals, however this does prevent one from
accessing software from disc which rather defeats the
purpose of the disciple.
Overall the Disciple must be considered a good
value with the cost at around $120.00 at current ex-
change rates. I ordered mine direct from Rockfort Pro-
ducts at 81 Church Road, London NW4 4DP, United Kingdom.
€MX Mouse
MIKE FELERSKI
From the time I first got my hands on the Zebra
Graphics Tablet, I have been investigating the use of a
mouse for my TS2068. Granted, the Zebra Track ball for
the 2068 is quite impressive, but my search for a Mouse
continued. After a little British research I found that
the best choices for Spectrum mice are the Kempston and
the AMX.
My choice was the AMX Mouse by Advanced Memory
Systems mainly because it was available here in the
states from Curry Computer, who highly recomended it.
The Mouse Interface plugs into any Spectrum expansion
port, such as the RainbowInterface, and it operates in
the Spectrum mode. The back of the Mouse adapter con-
tains two sockets, one for the mouse itself, and _ the
other is for a Centronics parallel printer cable (the
Tasman cable works just fine.)
The software loads in several parts. The first
part asks whether or not you wish to save to microdrive.
If you answer no then the software skips over loading
the second part and goes on to load the third part which
is the AMX ART program. As soon as the program has
loaded, you are presented with boreded work area sur-
rounded by Icons on the right and pul down menu headers
above. In the center of the screen is a hand Icon which
moves with the movement of the mouse. This pointer is
used to select any of the Icons or the menu headers by
just pointing to the desired function and pressing the
leftmost button on the mouse.
Nova
The AMX ART program operates the same way as Mac
Draw or Mac Paint on the MacIntosh. You can draw cir-
cles, boxes, and lines. You may draw using a pencil or
a spray can with any number of patterns and_ shades.
Imput/Output includes the TS2040 printer, the Interface
1 serial printer port or the AMX printer port with the
proper cable. Using the TS2040 printer you are only
able to print the immediate screen area, but with a full
size printer you are able to select the area you wish to
print which includes a larger area than the screen.
In addition to the AMX ART program, there is also
the AMX Colour Palette program which allows you to add
color to your drawings. The CP program is disappointing
only in that it only allows you to add color in large
blocks. On the other side of the tape are the AMX
control and Icon Designer programs which allow you to
create your own mouse software. These I will discuss in
the next article.
Over all I have been very impressed with the AMX
Mouse. It provides an excellent mouse/Icon enviroment
at a reasonable cost ($100 or less.) The only thing
lacking in the system is a more detailed owners manual.
In future articles I plan to discuss writing software
for the mouse, and other software available for the AMX
Mouse from other companies.
1000
Syd Wyncoop
Nova 1@@@ claims to provide the humble TS1@@@ with the ability
to perform multi-tasking. In case you are unaware, the usual
method to achieve multi-tasking is to use one of the newer
CPU’s. The reason is that they have the additional registers and
have been specifically designed for multi-tasking. Obviously
then, this is no small claim for the Z8@ CPU or the TS190d.
The tape comes with three versions of the program on it. The
first version contains the machine code in an uneditable line @,
to allow you to add your program lines. This version also
contains an impressive demonstration routine. It would have been
a nice touch to have provided the @ REM line by itself. As the
program is delivered, you must delete all the unwanted lines.
Much of the how to use this program information must be
from the demo, as the two page documentation is
informative.
gleaned
not very
Version 2 is an auto-relocatable version, you supply the address
and it moves itself. Version 3 will load and move itself above
Ramtop. All three versions require 5@@ bytes overhead with the
loader. ?
The program boasts a real-time clock however, it is a
clock and I would not find it of much use.
99 hour
The clock readout is
in the 99:99:99:99 format and appears in the upper
left corner
of the screen. The clock requires its own string variable for
communication with the user program.
There is also a trace function which shows the Basic line being
executed in the upper right corner of the screen. I like the
idea but found it to be of little value as presented.
Nova 12@@ claims up to 4@@% speed increases over the normal TS
Basic. The time savings are obtained by manipulation of the
display file size and I could not verify them.
The last feature is an auto-repeat on the keyboard. This I liked
and found to be the most useful. It really speeds up keyboard
entry.
All of these functions are controlled by poking various values
into the program (to set program variables) before calling Nova
1922. Nova is then called with a variety of RAND USR calls,
depending on the function desired. Nova 1008 will require a new
programming discipline. Briefly, you need to set variables to
pass parameters to Nova, then make the RAND USR call with
perhaps another parameter behind it. I think most beginning
programmers will be baffled by Nova 1@@@. The reason is that the
program listing will not be very clear, due to the many and
varied USR calls needed to make Nova 10@@ function.
Nova 19@@ appears to be pseudo-multi-tasking. I
time to experiment enough yet so I cannot be
happening. It appears that Nova is capable of
and a MC program concurrently,
does therefore provide a
limited. .
have
sure
not had
what is
running a
but not two Basic programs.
multi-tasking environment,
Basic
Nova
albeit
My copy came from Weymil Corp. via RMG Enterprises.
advertised price I saw was $20.@@ and the ad was as
as the documentation. However, better documentation,
clear examples, and Nova 1@@@ could be a winner.
The last
informative
some good
o4
Beginning 280 Machine Code
LESSon
BY SYD wYNCOOrF
It has been pointed out to me, by an astute reader, that I
neglected to tell you to run your MC routines in SLOW, if you
are using the TS19@0. Otherwise, you cannot see the display of
any of my examples. Sorry about that.
This time we will discuss the I/O instructions. For those
of you that are wondering what I/O means, it is Input and
Output. When I was new to computerdom, I thought I/0 referred to
my financial status.
To what are we Inputing and Outputing? The computer, but it
is actually our old friend, CPU. The I/O instructions allow the
CPU to receive or send information through the concept of PORTS
and they accomplish this depending upon how the manufacturer
made the hardware surrounding the CPU. For example, in our
computers port FEh is used for the keyboard. There are others
used by Sinclair for the 2040 printer, cassette, and on the
2068, for the bank switching and video mode changes. These are
*hard-wired’ in the computer and supported by the operating
system, therefore we cannot change them.
What is a PORT? Very simply, it is the doorway though which
information flows to and from the CPU and outside devices. There
are 256 ports available to us on the 286 (there are really
65,536, but we will not consider them here). The ports are of
course numbered 9-255, as they must be referred to in a single
byte. Think of each port as a door to a storeroom. Each door has
a number on it, much like a motel would. Each storeroom can hold
one byte of data at a time. The CPU can put data in or take data
out, by referring to each port (door).
The I/O instructions are In and Out, respectively and there
are two forms of the instructions, as detailed in the syntax
chart. We are looking at some instructions that are almost
english and fairly easily understood.
The forms In A,(n) and Out (n),A use the port specified by
n and reads (In) data into A or writes (Out) data from A. This
is very similar to the Basic In and Out commands, except that
the data is stored in the accumulator. None of the flags are
affected by these instructions.
For example:
In A, (FFh) reads port FFh and places one
byte of data into the accumulator
Out A, (FFh) writes one byte of data from the
accumulator to the device which
is addressed by port FFh
The forms In r,(C) and Out (C),r allow the flexibility of
veading or writing data with any register. Caution, remember
that C contains the port address. The Out (C),¥r instruction does
not affect any flags, while the In r,(C) af teers Att the flags.
% Carry, according to data which was rea n:
se oR egister C must be loaded with the port address, prior to
use, as in these examples:
Ld C,FFh reads port FFh and places data
In B,(C) in the B register
Ld C,FFh writes data from the B register
Out B,(C) to the device addressed by port FFh
You will note the I/O instructions assume you are communi-
cating with some device (printer, monitor, disk, etc.) which is
’addressed’ by a port number. The port number is selected by the
hardware manufacturer, just as Sinclair did in our computers.
You can perform I/O operations on all ports however, the results
are unpredictable without a device attached. This is due to lack
of pull-up resistors on the data lines. Obviously, there will
not be any communication if there is no device attached or an
incorrect port number is used.
Since we have to contend with devices that are much slower
than the CPU, we also have to consider timing. I will not get
into this subject very deep, as this type of programming becomes
very hardware dependent.
The timing problem is obviously one of slowing down the 1/0
operations, in an effort to match the device. Let’s consider the
simple case of reading a switch. We might wish to read the
switch once per second, to eliminate multiple switch closures (a
good example is in debouncing the keyboard switches).
We can perform this type of delay by looping for a prede-
termined time period. A simple delay routine that can be used,
without destroying any registers is:
Delay Push BC ;save these registers
Ld B,xx ;xx = # of ms to delay
Diy1 Ld C,yy syy = 1 ms delay count
Dly2 Dec C ;loop for 1 ms
Jr NZ, Dly2
DJNZ, Dlyl j;loop for # of ms
Pop BC j;retrieve registers
Ret ;end delay
The value xx is the number of milliseconds to delay and yy
is the number of loops needed for a delay of one millisecond. I
will not take you through the steps of counting the delay as I
wish only to demonstrate the technique. When you are ready to
use this routine, you will not need my help with the values xx
and yy.
Another method of delay can be used with ‘smart’
such as a printer. This method uses two separate loops, instead
of the nested loops we just looked at. Our example assumes the
printer (actually, it’s interface) is wired for port 7Fh and it
sends a zero byte when ready to accept data.
devices,
25
NINE
Ready? Ld C,7Fh ;get port address
In A,(C) ;get ready status from printer
Jr NZ,Ready? ;loop unless zero byte received
Print Ld A,data j;get data byte to print
Out (C),A ;send data to printer
Ret ;end delay
This method has the advantage of not sending any data,
unless the device is ready, therefore no data is lost. Can you
imagine how this article would look, if some characters were
lost in transit to the printer? No, that’s not what happened, I
just write poorly.
There is another solution to this timing problem, which
uses hardware. We will not discuss that here, but you should be
aware of it.
You also note some 1/0 instructions on the chart that I
have not explained. These perform block I/O operations and will
be explained next time, with the rest of the block instruc-
tions. They are included here so that it will be clear they are
I/O instructions.
By now, many of you are undoubtedly trying to write your
own MC programs. I wish to give some tips and hints, that will
make the process less painful.
First, DO NOT attempt to write a large MC program on the
first try. Instead, take the approach we have followed here and
write small routines that do a specific job. They can be easily
called from Basic and will return to the next Basic line. I
would suggest you take a small working Basic subroutine and try
converting it to MC. An arithmetic routine is the easiest to
convert, as long as it does not contain special functions, such
as SQR, COS, etc.
Write your MC in modules (subroutines) that can be easily
tested and debugged. This also allows you to develope a library
of known, debugged routines that can be used again. Look closely
at the routines I have provided in this series. You will note
that they are very similiar to each other.
I do not flow-chart and will not describe that to you.
There are many good books on the subject. However, before you
begin codeing your routine, there are some questions you need to
answer or data to collect:
1)Purpose -what do we hope to accomplish?
2)Examples -what happens if? Sry soverat ectcbacte *
= outine need upon entry?
Fever ute Ae ate foes. Fomad to calling program?
I also strongly encourage you to document you program. All
of us have purchased programs that were not user friendly, in
spite of it’s claims, and in addition, had no documentation.
This is deplorable, but the biggest reason for documenting you
own programs is for ease of use. I have written code, been
interrupted, and when I returned to it a few months later, I
could not determine what the code did or why I wrote it that
way! Some essentials to proper documentation include:
Riverside
Software
Three New 2068 Programs
BLAM I - Over 70,000 bytes. ist Sections
Keyboard Instructions.....2 games de-
signed to teach Touch-Typing finger-
ing. 2nd Sections Blam I. Protect the
threatened letter by hitting the pro-
per key in time to destroy bomb with
laser-beam. Learning to type is fun!
BLAM II - Advanced Touch-Typing. Over 200
letter-sets. Four bomb-drop speeds.
Type chosen set in time to destroy
bomb! Keyboard/hands illustration can
be called to show fingering for each
set. All action in Machine-Language.
WPM check. Practicing can be fun}
PATTERNS - Control classic pattern forma-
tion program. Up to 32 elements, 16
colors, 24 graphic designs. A billion
pattern possibilities! Other features
make use of patterns easier in craft-
works.
$18 each (Mainers add 5%).
@e*Ri Box B-20, ORRINGTON, MAINE, 04474 sew
1)Purpose -if the above questions were answered,
they should be included here ;Print Ascii Character In A,(n) ! Out A, (n)
2)Registers oupien ones nee weed which ones are JESS O OIC III 1K In r,(C) ! Out (C),r
estroyed and which are preserved? 5 Ini ! .
ce should they contain upon entry ;Inputs: A=decimal digit Inir i ks
E and exit? ;Outputs: digit in A is printed Ina ! Outd
3)Inputs what data does routine need upon entry? ;Routines Called: Rom Print oh 2
4)Outputs -what data is returned to calling routine? ;Routines Called By: Bn2Dec Indr 1 Otdr
5)Routines Callled By -what routines use this one 7 Divide
as a subroutine? ;Purpose: call rom print routine while
6)Routines Called -what routines does this one call? ; preserving the registers
7)Commented Source -an absolute necessity i
This is not the only information that should be in your Print Push HL ssave all registers
documentation, but it is enough to make that routine useful to Push BC
you next time around. Without this information, you will not Add A, 3@h 32068 only
develope a useful library of routines and will continually need imake an ascii character
to reinvent the wheel. If you follow these suggestions, you will Add A,1Ch 31288 only
find MC programming easy (well, almost) and if not, you will imake an axcii character
soon give up in frustration. Rst 10h 3g0 print digit in A
Now, how about a short routine? Let’s convert binary Pop BC ixestore registers
numbers to decimal digits for printing. Pop HL
The easiest way to accomplish this is by repetitively sub- PrDone Ret ;digit has been printed
tracting powers of ten from our binary number and counting the 5
number of times the subtraction is possible, better known as End
division. For the more advanced, try doing this by using the
shift and rotate instructions. I am using the subtraction
technique, as the code is much easier to follow.
There are several things to note. First, since each routine
;Set-up Demonstration is a separate module that could be called from anywhere, there
DEO OK CCRC KK are a few unneccessary instructions. For instance, the Jp Print
3 is not needed at the DvDone label, as the Divide routine could
; Inputs: none simply ’fall through’ to Print. I used Jp to demonstrate the use
;Outputs: print decimal number of another routine’s Ret instruction, in place of a Call Print
;Routines Called: Bn2Dec and the subsequent Ret that would have been needed to end the
;Routines Called By: none Divide routine. Assume for a moment that Print does not follow
;Purpose: set-up hl for our conversion routine immediately behind Divide. Try to follow the program through and
: see that the Divide routine uses the Ret instruction from the
Org 753@h Print routine to return to the main routine, Bn2Dec.
Set-up Ld HL,4@@@h j;hl=number to convert Also, I used the Rst 1@h rom print routine for compatibil-
Call Bn2Dec j;go convert it ity on both the 1000 and 2068. Use of the rom routines often
Done Ret sconverted and printed destroys the registers, therefore they were saved. Even BC,
which we could have discarded.
The source is written along the quidelines given above. You
should note that the comments do not echo the instructions,
except when it serves to clarify. I have seen many listings that
sthis is our return to
; basic
>
; look like:
hee routine really begins here Ld HL, 4900h -HL=4@00h
;Convert Binary to Decimal Obviously not very informative or useful.
JOC OCI OK RIOR KOK Several lessons ago, I made the rather obnoxious claim that
5 all arithmetic could be performed with addition. This routine
;Inputs: HL=Binary Number will perhaps clarify that statement. We needed to divide. We
;Outputs: decimal number is printed chose to subtract, to achieve this. We chose to add a negative
;Routines Called: Divide number, in lieu of subtraction. We divided!
; Print As a friend of mine says, "Th-Th-Th-That’s all folks!",
;Routines Called By: Set-up that is, until next issue.
;Purpose: convert binary number to decimal
; ascii characters for printing
Bn2Dec Ld BC,D8FGh ;-10,200 OUT SALE
Call Divide j;go get 10°4 digit x e -
Ld BC,FC18n ;-1,208 =
Call Divide jgo get 1073 digit
Ld BC,FF9Ch 3-108 iz ;
Call Divide jgo get 1072 digit TS2065 SOFTWARE
Ld BC,FFF6h 3-10
Call Divide ;go get 10°1 digit
eit “Opriint. 4g6 print 100 adele “DIAMOND MIKE”
"GREAT GAMES AND GRAPHICS SHOW”
ar iuekeieacan Each originally sold for $24.95, but get
5 FR OK KK ACK OK
both for just $9.95--while supplies last.
: Inputs: HL=Binary Number
; BC=10*x
;Outputs: A=decimal digit to print a
jRoutines Called: Print "INTEGER BASIC COMPILER”
;Routines Called by: Bn2Dec fata -
;Purpose: divide binary number by power "?no ASSEMBLER”
H of ten to obtain decimal digit . ‘
4 by repetitive subtraction Both for £9.95 ¢Cwhile suppl ies last?}.
Divide Xor A jelear our counter Includes 19 pages of documentation
DvLoop Add HL,BC ;perform subtraction
Inc A ;count it
Jr C,DvLoop ;do again if possible og 1 :
Sbe HL,BC ;otherwise adjust the ARC SOFTWARE
Dec A ;counters for the extra 3 at F asad
subtraction 200 N. Main St.
Ret Z ;division not possible or | o
DvDone Jp Print ;@0 print it Scottsbur a: IN 47170
C212) 752-607)
TT & C SERVICES
2a LIBERTY TERRACE
BUFF Loe MW 1442415
oh ES epee OO
ea 2 1 oh fedas aL tb == Fomr ey Foc sc cet ea loo cor
a
poet coe clus cock ce Fo cor tb ia ee “To a rise s+ Com ea eer ce
Programming Concepts
by Albert F.
Our example program, ZX TIC TAC TOE (the listing
appeared in May/June '87 on pages 21 & 22), has the LOAD
name "TTT". When storing a program on a cassette, it is
better to give it a name, especially when the tape
contains other different programs. The procedure is, of
course, to use a REM statement with the name of the pro-
gram within a pair of quotations (see the chapter in the
User Manual regarding LOAD/SAVE).
ZX TIC TAC TOE is self-running and this is possible
because of line number 5. This line permits.the program
to begin execution immediately after it is loaded. It
also eliminates the danger of the user accidentally
erasing any data contained in the variable store by
entering RUN. Any program written with a SAVE command,
after it is loaded, will begin to execute from the first
line after this command.
Lines 7 through 12 are in charge of initializing
the character array C$(9). This array is initialized
before the beginning of each game with the numbers 1
through 9. These values are what first appear in each
square of the game board and permit a player to make a
move during a game. The way the loop is’ structured is
interesting from a programming viewpoint. This way of
initializing a character array is faster ans consumes
less memory, than say, using LET and listing each in-
dividual array element in consecutive order.
In lines 16 through 18 the number array N(9) is in-
itialized with zeroes before each new game. This array
appears in the driver by the name of COUNTR. This array
is used by this routine to store how many times during a
game a particular move is made. This is important be-
cause it prohibits any one square in the game board from
being used more than once during an actual game.
Line 34 initializes the number variable CTR, which
is used to keep track of the total number of moves made
during a game. When CTR equals nine, it cues the driver
called DRW. This routine does what its name says: given
9 consecutive moves. and no winner, the game must end in
a draw.
Line 35 is really interesting. This line lets the
character variable F$, be used further down the program
by pre-assigning it at the beginning of each game. F$ in
this program acts as a "flag"--it tells the computer
that a game has finished in either a win or a draw.
Lines 112 through 120 compose what is actually the
main program within my overall program. It has 5 sub-—
routines and two drivers (a clearer example of this will
be shown later when we list the program "declarations").
After the last driver at line 119, terminates execution
(i.e., when a game being played ends either in a win or
a draw), then line 120 permits the start of a new game
by letting the program re-execute again from line 7.
This way of structuring a program, which involves in-
tegrated multi-functional routines, is convenient in
that it first allows a programmer to outline the main
areas of his/her program, then the rest of the time can
be devoted to writing each specific section of the over-—
all work. (I credit this suggestion to Dr. William T.
Kraynek, Associate Professor, Mathematical Sciences De-
partment, Florida International University, Tamiami
Campus, Miami, Florida.)
From lines 1001 to 1019, two things happen. Sub-
routine MSG prints a message on the screen for three
seconds urging the player to beat the computer. After
clearing the screen another set of instructions appear
for 12 seconds informing the user how to stop and re-
start the game. The length of time that each message
Rodriquisex
appears can be reduced by pressing any key,
Space key, while each message is being displayed.
messages are displayed once per each new game.
Lines 2001 through 2012 is the subroutine BRD. This
section prints on the screen, once per game, the playing
board. The vertical and horizontal lines of the board
are made of the ‘characters "I" and "~" respectively. The
routine is made of two FOR/NEXT loops and a "counter" by
the name of C. The variable C is what informs the
computer that three sets of vertical lines and two sets
of horizontal lines have been printed and that it may
proceed with its next instructions.
Lines 3001 through 3015 is the subroutine PSTN.
This name, is actually an abbreviation for the word
"position". This routine is continually called upon to
display the actual moves that are either made or remain
to be made before and during a game. The row coordinates
from top to bottom are 2, 7 and 11; the column coordi-
nates from left to right are 2,7 and 13. This routine
prints the content of each element in the array CS(9) at
pre-determined locations on the game board in row form,
beginning with the highest and ending with the lowest
row.
except the
These
Lines 4003 through 4010 is the subroutine INSTRCS,
which stands for "instructions". Once per game, this
section displays on the screen the name of the game, the
year it was copyrighted, its author's name, who get to
play with either of the:characters (in inverse video)
"O" and "X" and who gets the first move. The player who
is assigned "0", is the one who always gets to make the
first move. Once a game begins, the instructions at the
bottom of the screen (which report who moves with what
and who makes the first move) are erased.
Lines 5000 through 5017 compose the subroutine
RDAPRV. The basic functions of this routine are to read
in the move made by a player during a game, then to de-
termine if the move is included within the only accept-
able kind of moves that should be made during a_ game.
Only the numbers 1 through 9 are acceptable moves. This
routine is what is called a "search" routine. It seeks
to match what is entered with what can only be an
acceptable move. If the move is acceptable, the game
proceeds with the rest of the instructions in the pro-
gram. If the move entered is unacceptable, then three
things happen: an error message is displayed for two
seconds, it self-erases and the player is allowed an-
other move. Whether or not a move that is made is
acceptable...what is entered by a player is always dis-
played on the screen to let him/her know exactly what
was entered.
The first driver in the program appears in lines
6000 through 6018. Its name is COUNTR. Its function is
to NOT allow a player to make the same move, he/she or
the computer makes, more than once. It too acts like a
search routine by determining which acceptable move was
entered, then it stores in the number array N(9) the
number of times that move was made. If a move ina game
is made twice or more, and error message is displayed
for two seconds, self-erases and allows another move by
calling subroutine RDAPRV. If the move that was made has
not been made before, the program then continues.
We'll wrap up.our explanation of the example pro-
gram next issue.
ALSO AVAILABLE FOR THE T/S 2068
POWERFUL AND INEXPENSIVE BUSINESS SOFTWARE
FOR ZX81, T/S1000 and T/S1500 COMPUTERS
2X-TEXT
ZX—TEXT
COPYRIGHT (cc) 1983
ALBERT F. RODRIGUEZ
SELECT AN OPTION
»WRITE
»REAC/EDIT
» PRINT
+ SAVE
.CLEAR
“RMNSUEP BY ENTERING A NUMBER"
A word processor is to a computer user
what a typewriter is to a typist. except that the
former has more advantages than the latter.
ZX-Text can operate in 16-64K RAM providing
from 1300 to 6500 words per document. It
features 6 different options: write, read, edit,
print, save and clear text. Text is written on a
per-line basis with quick speed and with
horizontal back-space and delete capabilities
being available. You can also access the
editor directly from write mode and vice-versa.
Text can be proof-read on a per-line basis
allowing for enough time to determine if any
editing is needed. The text editor allows a line
of text to be deleted, inserted, replaced and
listed for editing. You may also change a word
or expression within a line, stop or start text
while it is scrolling up the screen, begin
reading text from the first line of the file, re-
enter write mode from the editor, return to the
main-menu or create a window so that you
can read-edit two files simultaneously. The
print option takes text displayed in 30-column
format on the screen and outputs to either the
ZX/TS printer. (With Memotech’s Centronics
Parallel Interface 80-column and lower/
higher - case output is possible.) Files may
be saved on tape cassette with the use of
one single command, or by the same token they
can be erased from memory / storage so that
the full capacity of the program can be used
for other purposes such as composing letters,
reports, articles, memos, standard forms,
instructions, ads, graphs, telephone
directory, lists of customers, members,
friends...etc. Also copies of files are always
less expensive and easier to run than using a
photocopier. Other advantages are savings in
time, paper, ink, correcting mistakes and
adding afterthoughts more efficiently than
doing them through either handwriting or
using a typewriter.
$16.95
ZX-CALC
tC) 1964 Ah. RODRIQUEZ
is SREEREBE
BUDGET
SERESE eRe
JHA FE
POUNGZ
[J
io
p
# GOOF WMO» WJ
& CHO BOO OUT
* BA
TRAP FRESS REA ER ER EE
HEN LECT
fe ENTER/ERASE Tg}
aad PRINT a mw CLEAR
An electronic spreadsheet calculator is the
fundamental basic tool for summarising, reporting
and analyzing in matrix form any accounting,
mathematical or scientific manipulation of num-
bers. ZX-Calc operates in 32-64K RAM and affords
a maximum of 3360 characters / spreadsheet. The
entire matrix consists of 15 columns (letters A-O)
and 30 rows (numbers 1-30) with 8 characters/
Cell. Unlike other popular ESCs, ZX-Calc uses in
calculations and within cells all 14 math functions
on the ZX-81/TS1000. It offers a unique “SUM
function that totals one or more rows/columns
simultaneously. Parenthesis can be used within
equations. There is no fixed limit on how many
equations may be entered. Formulas may be
stored in all 420 celis of the spreadsheet. The
display affords 15 rows/colums. Loading of data
into more than one cell can occur across/down
one or more row/column simultaneously. With
vertical windowing you can arrange a set of col-
umns in any order, or practice using fixed-variable-
alignment display formats. The menu offers 6
options: enter / erase, move, calculate, print, save
and clear the spreadsheet. Enter/erase allows
the entering, deletion or data alignment within a
cell through the use of a mobile cursor. With the
move option you may move around the entire
sreadsheet to access any row, column or cell.
The calculate option allows you to enter labels,
values or formulas into a cell or write and enter
equations that will act upon the data already within
the spreadsheet. You can also enter bar graphs
into acellinthis option. Absolute /relative replica-
tion, down/acrossacolumn/row, is alsoallowed
by this option. Also this option allows the auto-
matic calculation of the entire spreadsheet with
one single command. Print allows youto outputto
either the ZX/TS printer the entire spreadsheet by
column-sets and row-pages through use of the
COPY command. The entire spreadsheet may be
saved on cassette tape or you may clear all data
from it or erase the program from RAM entirely.
The most salient advantage provided by an ESC
over specifically vertical applications software is
that an ESC provides a reusable framework with
which you can compose any specific financial
model rather than just belimitedto only one stati-
cally fixed format for storing, displaying and
manipulating numerical data.
ZX-CALENDAR
APPOINTMENT MADE
WYTHE 0417784
aa EVURN REED, CAREER
Mi 8:30 ALM.
| DURATION: BRRZ-eeaTelel-3
peace 2358S SALZEDO ST., NO.
, » G., 444-1392
INSIDE OUTSIDE SALES,
-
RARE . NSIDE COUTE TOS SALES»
BILINGUAL R PLUS.
Time management is an important aspect of
any serious business and personal agenda.
Planning how to spend our time leaves us better
prepared before and while we are spending it
and we remain better organized after we finish
spending it. ZX-Calendar operates in 16-64K
RAM affording 25 appointments in 16K, 100 in
32K or 180 in 48K and 64K. Each
appointment record holds a maximum of 220
characters. The main menu includes enter,
search/check/sort, change, save, clear and
print any and all appointments made on a
specific date or with any party. Output to either
the ZX/TS printer is permissible. This program
will permit you to remember to do something or
to be somewhere important by cataloging your
answers to six questions that you must account
for in order not to waste time when it is scarce:
when, with whom, at what time, for how long,
where and what are you going to discuss and
conclude when you get together with someone
else? The program lets you permanently
originate, record, classify, search, sort,
calculate, modify, summarize, obtain a written
report and store your answers to the preceding
questions so that you will not forget what you
decide to do with your time. This program
identifies your time according to when you are
going to spend it and with whom you are going
to share it. Through these forms of labeling
appointments you are able to verify or modify
how your time is budgeted without wasting ink,
paper or more time trying to remember what you
said to yourself or what someone else said to
you or where you placed certain written
messages that you now can't find. With this
program you will know where you can find
exactly what you need to know about where you
want to and have to be, or where you have been,
before you get and after you got there. Thus, ZX-
Calendar will let you plan your time so that you will
never have to worry about what is ahead or what
came before, for you will always know, by using it,
to never be caught astray by any time-frame.
$16.95
$16.95
$3.00 SHIPPING AND HANDLING /PROGRAM
A.F.R. SOFTWARE - 1605 Pennsylvania Avenue, No. 204 - Miami Beach, Florida 33139
DEALER INQUIRIES WELCOME
(305) 531-6464 FLORIDIANS ADD SALES TAX
L-1 © 1984
Ee “yy
CS
THE TS i500
C2401 “TS 1oo0>
USER PEa PAL
SOUR FLAP Pi Pia Rey
EARL V DUNNINGTON
In order to become more than a novice programmer,
it is essential that you understand completely the
structure of your Random Access Memory (RAM) and how it
functions. This is also a prerequisite for future
articles in this series. Much of the material presented
in my articles is written to correct, what in my opinion
are misconceptions spread or perpetuated by others. I
urge you to try the routines presented as proof of the
material. I use a TS1500 and this is the reason the
ZX81/TS1000 are parenthesized in the heading. This is
also another reason to try out the routines on your own
computer.
The structure of a computers memory is known as its
Memory Map. The BASIC system of the memory map of your
computer extends from the fixed address 16384 up to the
variable address of RAMTOP. This BASIC system is divided
into various areas for filing different types of in-
formation a diagram of these areas with their names can
be found at the top of page 154 of the TS1500 and page
128 of the TS1000 User Manuals. It is important to un-
derstand that this diagram is drawn as if all of the
areas are in use at the same time, which is never the
case.
Referring to this diagram, the Lower RAM memory
extends from address 16384 upwards in addresses to the
top of the Calculator stack. The Upper RAM memory ex-
tends downwards from the actual address of RAMTOP to the
bottom of the Machine stack. Each area in the Upper and
Lower memory, other than the System variables area,
expands when in use and contracts when not in use. The
Display file when in the expanded mode is also a special
case. When any of the areas in the lower RAM expand,
they push all of the areas above it upward in memory and
the Spare area becomes smaller. This is like an accor-
dian file--when information is withdrawn the areas in
the Lower RAM memory contract downwards pulling the
areas above it down in memory. This is like a vertical
file cabinet, the height of which is the available RAM,
with an accordian file folder that works up and down,
with the lower end glued to the bottom of the cabinet.
The two areas in the Upper RAM memory act in re-
verse, pushing down into the spare area when in use and
contracting back up when not in use. This is like a two
division accordian file, the top of which can be fixed
at any position below the top of the vertical file
cabinet with the bottom free to move. This allows us to
open up a third area for filing data or machine code
routines. So we now have a vertical file cabinet with
Can'an external keyboard be wired up to a TS1500 in
a similar manner as for a TS1000?
Don Berry
Orlando, Florida
Tim Stoddard replies: To compare keyboard connections,
position both the TS1000 and the TS1500 with their non-
component sides up and the expansion connector away from
you. The Larger connector is on the Left on both of the
computers and {4 wined the same except for reversing
wines 5 & 6 (counting Left to night) on the TS1500. The
A QUESTION FOR
Wo
ha
two accordian file folders. When the space between the
two is less than 36 addresses, we get an "Out of Memory"
error remark.
The names in capital letters below the arrow heads,
or arrows as the case may be in your diagram are the
names of what are known as the System variables. These
consist of two bytes containing the address of the
boundaries of the BASIC system areas. They are filed
along with many others at fixed addresses in the Systems
variables area. A list of the System variables and their
addresses starts on page 160 of the TS1500 or page 134
of the TS1000 User Manuals. The BASIC commands to POKE
or to PEEK the addresses are given at the top of the
page.
Figure No.1 of this article is a diagram of the RAM
portion of the memory map immediately after the computer
has been turned on and the cursor appears on the screen
or after NEW has been entered and the cursor appears.
Compare it with the diagram in your manual. I immed-
iately see some mental hands raised! Where is the
Program area? Until a program line is typed and entered
the Program area does not exist. Where is the Line being
typed + work space? It also does not exist until one or
more characters are typed into the computer. Where is
the USR routines area? It also is non-existant unless
actual RAMTOP is lowered in the case of the ZX81/TS1000
with or without the RAM pack or the TS1500 without the
RAM pack. Why do you show the Display file as having 26
bytes or 793 bytes when the second paragraph on page 129
of the TS1000 and the fourth paragraph on page 156 of
the TS1500 manuals say. "When the total amount of memory
(according to the system variable RAMTOP) is less than
3.25K, a clear screen--as set up at the start or by CLS,
consists of just 25 ENTERs."? In the minimum Display
file mode, anytime a character is placed into the file
it expands. During initialization a cursor character is
placed by the ROM routine into the Display file, ex-
panding it by one byte to 26. In the expanded Display
file mode (the address in the System variable RAMTOP is
19712 or greater) the size of the file is 25 ENTERs + 32
times 24 space characters for a total of 793 bytes. As
characters are entered into the file they just replace
the spaces, having no effect on the size of the file.
Under certain conditions such as during a SCROLL, the
normal size of the Display file will change.
For those having a 2ZX81/TS1000 with a RAM pack
attached, let's fool the computer into thinking you have
less than 3.25 RAM. Turn on the computer. Type in and
Continued Next Page.
TIM STODDARD
smakken connector 44 wired backwards in the 1500 com-
paned to the TS1000. Following is a chart which compares
the two computers. Hope this information helps.
fs]
ai
fe fa
nye
om oo
cir cet
{
t
1
2.
“
a
i
UE hex
MEMORY MAP OF RAM IMMEDIATELY AFTER POWER UP
LOWER RAM MEMORY —_—————>]
System Display Variables Calculator
variables file stack
one
byte
125
bytes
26 or 7933
bytes
one
byte (8h)
keuPPER RAM MEMoRY~>|
Spare Machine GOSUB
bytes depend stack stack
upon address
of RAMTOP
two two
bytes bytes
Machine
stack
pointer
sp
FIGURE NO.
ENTER the following direct commands:
POKE 16389,72
CLS
Readers with a TS1500 should do likewise.
just turn on the computer.
To prove that Figure No.l is correct, if we PEEK
the address contained in the System variable E LINE and
subtract 16384, then the result will be the amount of
bytes from 16384 to E LINE. To do this type in and ENTER
the direct command:
PRINT PEEK 16404+256*PEEK 16405-16384
The result should be 151. If you add up the bytes shown
on Figure No.1 between address 16384 and E LINE using
the minimum Display file figure, it is 152 bytes. The
reason for this is that when you pressed ENTER both the
direct command and the cursor character were erased from
the Display file prior to the execution of the command.
Why did the printing of the value returned and the error
remark not upset the value? Because they were printed
after the execution of the PEEK and subtract portion of
the command.
Let's all fool the computer into thinking we have
3.25K of RAM. Type in and ENTER the following direct
command:
POKE 16389,77
CLS
Repeat PEEKing the System variable and subtracting 16384
by typing in and ENTERing the same command used above.
This time you should get 919 which agrees with Figure
No.1 using the higher value for the Display file.
All others
T/S 1000/ZX81
PROGRAMMING SRAM HI=RES
PART
By Fred Nachbaur
In this installment, we’ll start taking a closer
Took at the BLACKJACK listing of Vol. 3, No. 4, to get
an idea of what makes it all work. But before we get
down to brass tacks, a few other comments are in order.
TS206S83 USERS
Are you impressed with the 2068’s
just a little confused about how to go
capabilities, but
about using it to
the fullest? Well, don’t feel too bad; it’s actually a
pretty complex machine. Even the way its display file is
mapped can be pretty confusing. SRAM HI*RES, on the
other hand, is simplicity itself. Its display file is
arranged very simply as 176 (or 192) lines of 32 bytes
each, going from left to right and top to bottom.
So why not dig up that old “doorstopper" and
experiment with SRAM HI*RES for a while! Its ease of use
and abundance of nifty commands will give you lots to
experiment with, and (more importantly) learn from. Once
you’ve mastered SRAM HI*RES, you’l! be in a much better
position to tackle the intricacies of the 2068.
So here’s an "invite" to you 2068ers to join
Come on in, the water’s fine!
in the
fun.
If we type anything into the computer it will open
up and be echoed in the Line being typed + work space
area. Because of this we will enter the PEEK commands
into a program line. This will not disturb the original
displacement between E LINE and STKEND as after the Line
being typed + work space area no longer exist and the
Calculator stack has shrunk back to one byte. Type in
and ENTER the following program line:
10 PRINT (PEEK 16412+256*PEEK 16413)-(PEEK 16404+256*
PEEK 16405)-1
We have to add one because STKEND points to the last
byte of the Calculator stack, not to the first byte of
the Spare area. Now type RUN and press ENTER. The result
should be one byte as shown on Figure No.l.
Turn off your computer and power up so as to have a
fresh start. If we take the address contained in the
System variable ERR SP and subtract it from the address
contained in the System variable RAMTOP, it will check
out the total number of bytes shown for the Upper RAM in
Figure No.l. Type in and ENTER the following direct
command:
PRINT(PEEK 16388+256*PEEK 16389)-(PEEK 16386+256*PEEK
16387)
The result displayed should be a four.
It is important to understand that any additional
memory above the actual address of RAMTOP is not con-
sidered part of the BASIC system. This also holds for
any additional memory in the 8K area between the ROM and
the start of the System variables area at address 16384.
(TO BE CONTINUED IN THE NEXT ISSUE)
if
WRX1S HI-RES AND
At this point, let’s give credit where credit is
due. AS you may Know, SRAM HI*#RES Extended BASIC is a
collection of new commands that make use of a high-res
core routine developed by Mr. Wilf Rigter. This routine
is an invention anywhere as significant as the original
"cheap video" system employed in the ZX81. Without this
core routine, all the neat possibilities that SRAM
HI#RES has to offer would be completely useless. With no
other hardware requirement than a static RAM in the 8-
16K region, this routine is what gives your humble ZX/TS
a whole new look, not to mention new worlds of
possibility.
The hardware aspect brings me to another point. You
may have noticed that the BLACKJACK listing in the last
installment was directly followed by Tim Stoddard’s 64K
BUILT-IN RAM. I checked over the schematic, and guess
what? Tim’s circuit will work fine with WRX16 and SRAM
HI#RES with NO CHANGES! This is because the chips’ OE*
Coutput enable?) is pulled low if EITHER the RD* line
INTERNAL 64K
Note that Tim
guess what THRUST
goes low, OR the REFSH* iine goes low.
reports compatibility with "THRUST";
is based on? You guessed it... WRXi6.
So, dig up a TS1000 somewhere (I’ve seen them sell
for as little as $15), add about that much more in RAM
chips, invest a couple hours of easy hardware hacking,
and add SRAM HI*RES. You now have a
with high-res capability, at a total
What a deal!
full 64K computer
cost of under #60.
A QUESTION OF SYNTAX
What is meant by "syntax?" No, it’s not a payment
to your government for vices like tobacco and beer. The
dictionary defines it as "The arrangement and inter-
relationship of words in phrases and sentences." The
computer definition could be worded very similarly; "The
arrangement and interrelationship of commands and
parameters in program statements." For example, there is
a definite way of plotting a pixel to the screen in
Sinclair BASIC. You have to say, "PLOT x,y". You can’t
say "x PLOT y" or "PLOT x AND y". If you don’t use the
correct syntax, the computer won’t Know what you’re
talking about; much as if you told someone, "Dog man
bites." (Does dog bite man, man bite dog, or does dogman
generally bite?)
People who write extended language pacKages (as
extended BASIC) for ROM-based computers have a bit of a
problem. How do you add new commands to an immutable
chunk of silicon? Obviously, we can’t Ceasily> change or
expand the ROM itself. Fortunately, there are always
other ways of doing things. You are probably used to
passing your parameters ‘(like x and y in the PLOT
example) using POKE, and executing the command with RAND
USR.... Sure, it works. It works quite well. The
problems are that this can be confusing (unless you use
dedicated variables), and more importantly it’s very
extravagant with memory. To take an extreme example,
let’s say you have to pass four parameters (as for a
DRAW command). You might have to say something like,
1000 POKE 20001 ,X1
1010 POKE 20002,X2
1020 POKE 20003,Y1
1030 POKE 20004,Y2
1040 RAND USR 22000
If you’ll do a byte-count of these lines, you’!!
find that to draw a single line on the screen from
CX1,Y1> to (X2,Y2> takes a total of #8 bytes!! It
doesn’t take long to fill up 16K at that rate!
In comparison, let’s look at how SRAM HI*RES would
handle the same command:
1000 IF USR HR THEN LPRINT DRAW;X1,X2,Y1,Y2
Verify that this statement takes only 27 bytes. We
can therefore do over 3-1/2 times as much drawing in a
given memory space! If we condense the word DRAW to OD,
then we save three more bytes, without affecting the
operation of the command.
Another point has to do with expressions. In
Sinclair BASIC, we can say exotic things like, "*PLOT
Z*¥ASN (X/2),Y+3/C(LN (C/D)>". Some extended BASIC systems
require you to first assign the value of the expression
to a single-letter variable, or POKE the expression into
some machine-code variable first. Not SRAM HI#RES! To
change the above command to SRAM HI#RES syntax requires
only that we precede it with "IF USR HR THEN..." That’s
all it takes!
Consider the statement “IF USR HR THEN..." as
nothing more than a prefix that tells your computer that
it is supposed to do something in high-res. Don’t worry
about “what if not USR HR?* etc. This syntax construct
is nothing more than a bridge, or a door, into SRAM
HI#RES. There are other subtleties regarding high-res
syntax, such as the significance of semicolons and
commas in PRINT statements, which we’1ll get to in the
comfortable
those IF USR HR THEN... prefixes; remember that
course of this series. For now, simply get
with all
ALL they mean is that we’re doing something that we
can’t do in normal BASIC.
Similarly, the prefix IF USR HR THEN LPRINT... is
simply our way of adding new commands with the greatest
possible flexibility in using expressions. We call these
the "Group 2" commands, as opposed to the "Group i"
commands like IF USR HR THEN CLS, IF USR HR THEN PLOT
Xs¥ and so on. Obviously, there are no Sinclair BASIC
analogs to commands like SPRITE MOVE, DRAW, DEFINE UDG,
etc.
eR)
THE AMAZING UDG
What is it that REALLY sets high-res BLACKJACK
apart from previous Blackjack games for the ZX81/TS1000?
Is it the game itself? No. In fact, the core for this
game was originally written on the first 2K TRS-80
pocket computer! It performed flawlessly, if with a few
less features. No, the appeal of high-res BLACKJACK is
in the pictures of the actual cards themselves, right
there on your TV screen. It is the GRAPHICS that turns a
good but rather ho-hum game into something that will
make your friends ooh and aah over your “monster
doorstopper".
The Key to these pictures is a thing calleda
"UDG", for "User-Defined Graphics." Though it sounds
rather ominous and forbidding, it’s really very simple.
A UDG is nothing more than a screen character that YOU
define. Unlike the 128 fixed characters in your ROM, the
128 UDGs can be defined and changed at will. Every
character, UDG or ROM-based, consists of eight rows of
eight dots, for a total of 64 dots. Each of these dots
are either set C*ink"> or reset ("paper"). The
possibilities are staggering. I once computed that if
you printed all the possible UDG’s on TS2040 paper,
UDG’s per line, the length of 2040 paper you’d
would equal the circumference of the orbit of Pluto.
The EASIEST way for a user to define UDGs is
32
need
by
using direct binary, as does the 2068. In other words,
"OG" represents a reset pixel, "1" represents a set
pixel. The only problem with this is that it is
tremendously memory-inefficient. For each UDG
definition, we would need 64 bytes, plus the “syntax
overhead" (punctuation between groups, etc.) Well, so
let’s use decimal numbers to give the value for each of
the eight rows. After all, everyone has ten fingers,
right? Unfortunately, 10 is not an integral power of 23
this makes decimal FAR more confusing, in the long run,
than other bases like octal or hexadecimal.
Pitt | fyity
-BINARY- DEC.HEX.
eae NVEBCE
11111111 255 FF
a
its git
ae FET oosouse 46 25
i HA
cleat 00010000 26 10
: oooioco0ii 19 i3
: 00001111 15 OF
[ORO ak WR OR a a By Be
canal
AA. 00010101 2i is
00010101
WEIGHTS
IDEC.128 64 32
16
HEX. 80
ae
The
maintaining
hexadecimal.
most
ease
while
it>
I
see an article by some neophyte,
memory-—efficient approach,
of decoding is ‘you guessed
Time for a_ philosophical digression.
cringe every time I
arguing something to the effect of,
us to use
"if God had wanted
hexadecimal, He would have given us sixteen
fingers," or “if my computer understood hex, I could
enter hex numbers as program lines.” I cringe not so
much because the author is missing the whole point,
rather out of embarrassment because I once felt the same
way. However, the deeper you delve into the workings of
your computer, the more you are forced to realize that
it really IS a “base 2" device (i.e. nothing but ON or
OFF>. It is very frequently REALLY handy and NECESSARY
to be able to quickly convert between a number and its
binary equivalent, or vice versa. It is much, much
easier to do such conversions using hexadecimal. If you
really need the decimal equivalent, look it up ina
table or have your computer figure it out using one of
the many conversion routines that have been published. A
case in point is defining UDG’s.
Take a look at Fig. 1. The UDG character depicted
there is an actual UDG used in the BLACKJACK program. If
you compare it to the screen dumps published in the last
installment, you’ll see that this is the upper-left
corner of the image of the KING card (the left side of
the crown at the top of the card). Each row of pixels is
"disassembled" in binary, then in decimal, then in
hexadecimal. Note that, in the top row, all pixels are
set (darkened). Note that each bit (pixel) in this row
represents a power of two. The rightmost bit is 2*0=1,
the next to the left is 2*1=2, the next is 2°2=4, and so
on. So, to figure out the value in decimal, we have to
add 1+2+4+84+16+32+64+128 and finally come up with 255.
There MUST be an easier way.
Rest assured. There is an easier way. Simply split
your image down the middle, as shown by the dotted line
in the diagram. So now, each row of eight bits (= 1
byte> is broken into two rows of four bits (= 1 nybble).
Now consider the following table of binary-hex
equivalents:
o000=0 O001i=1 0010=2 0011=3
0100=4 0101=5 0110=6 0111=7
1000=8 100i1=9 1010=A 1011=B
1100=C 1101=D 1110=E 1L111=F
Commit this table to memory. Burn it into your
mental EPROM. Practise it until you’re SURE that 1011
means "B". An easy way to cheat (comparable to counting
on your fingers) is to remember that the “weights”
{going from left to right) is 8, 4, 2, 1. So "1011" is
8, plus (no fours), plus 2 (9, AD , plus 1 ¢(B). Another
way to cheat is to Keep the above table handy.
OK, now here’s the punch line. To convert a binary
number to hex, simply break it into nybbles as described
above, then convert each nybble to its equivalent
single-digit hex mumber. The resulting two-digit hex
number gives the hex equivalent! For instance, the third
line in the diagram is binary 00101110. Breaking this
into nybbles we get 0010 (2) and 1110 (E>) = 2E. It will
take very little practise to get the hang of this; it
won’t be long at all before you can figure out the hex
equivalent of any 8-bit binary number by = simple
inspection. To figure this same number out in decimal,
we would have had to add 32+8+4+2. Don’t Know about you,
but I’m tempted to reach for a calculator when I= see
something like that.
How does this apply, in practise, to SRAM HI#RES
and the BLACKJACK program? Take a look at line 97001.
What we’re telling the computer here iss
IF USR HR THEN
LPRINT U;
eaeee Center SRAM HI*RES]
(Define UDG]
= 8, .e.2.. Estarting at space = CHRS 0]
*00,00,00... etc.” Chex numbers for each row]
Note that the first eight entries, corresponding to
the Sinclair “space” character, are all zero. In other
words, our UDG CHR$ 0 is a space just like the “normal”
character set. This is where the similarity ends.
Note that, as listed, the "separator" after the
eighth hex pair is the graphic symbol on “1°. This was
simply for my convenience in entering and debugging; in
fact, the separators can be anything your heart desires.
SRAM HI#RES completely ignores them. The point to
remember is, that you can make your UDG definitions as
long as you like. The LPRINT UDG; (or LPRINT U;> command
Keeps processing hex numbers, assigning them in
sequential order, as long as they are supplied. So, line
7001 defines the UDGs corresponding to all the
characters from CHRS 0 ¢epace) through CHR® 9 (graphic
on D). Line 9002 starts defining at CHR$ 10 (graphic on
S). and continues to CHRS 19 ("<">. And so on, until all
128 possible UDG characters have been defined.
Before we end off, what do we mean by UDG’s
"corresponding to" the standard Sinclair characters?
Very simple. When using the UDG PRINT mode (selected by
IF USR HR THEN PRINT;333;) then anything containing these
characters will print as the corresponding UDG instead.
For instance, if we said IF USR HR THEN PRINT333;CHRS 1,
then the computer would print the UDG shown in the
diagram of Figure 1.
VAPORWARE
From SILICON MOUNTAIN
Now that our SCRAM board is available and off the “vaporware®
lists, we felt a need for new entries. We're presently taking
orders for the following “new products which definitely will
maybe appear one day.
NERO—-UORD
- The word-processor for the compleat idiot. Revolutionary input
routine obsoletes the mouse, joystick, light pen, trackball, and
even the Keyboard! You don’t even have to Know the QWERTY
keyboard! Alphabet and control icons continuously scroll across
the MCWP (Master Control Panel Window). When the desired
character is in the CSF (Cursor Selection Field), press the
button on our DBI (Doorbell Button Interface) fCoanly $235.90).
DEBASED
- The file manager of the future! Uses the same input routine as
NERD-WORD. Amazing new sort routine; simply print out your
files, cut them up, and sort by hand (free tutorial included).
Then use our Laser Wand (only $695.87) to read the sorted files
back in!
MAIL—PURGE
- Interactively Jinks NERO-WORD and DEBASED. Comes with a pair
of scissors and a glue stick for inserting your datafiles into
text files. Our patented KAMIKAZE routine eliminates the need
for a DELETE function; when the program figures that you’ve had
your files long enough, it assumes that you’re tired of them and
automatically purges them without saving. Even wipes out the
program and gives you an op-art crash-screen!
BuUGS—-PUNNY
- The ULTIMATE computer game. You are supplied with 16K of pure
machine-code; however, the bytes are completely scrambled. Your
challenge is to arrange them into a working program. WE don’t
even Know what the final program does! Comes with a packet of
instant coffee, a box of double-stuf Oreos, and a pocket bottle
of Extra-Strength Excedrin. We’l! even PAY YOU $10 if you send
us a working copy of the solution!
We DO have
TS1000 or TS1500. Send two IRC’s for free catalog.
several innovative software titles for your 2X8},
SILICON MOUNTAIN COMPUTERS: C-12, Mtn. Stn. Group Box
Nelson, BC VIL SPi CANADA
REMEMBER: In SRAM HI#RES, you can generally use the
same syntax constructs as you are used to in Sinclair
BASIC. So, any of the following statements would be
perfectly valid, and would do the same thing:
LET At=CHR$ 1
IF USR HR THEN PRINT; 33 5;A%
IF USR HR THEN PRINT3333" °
IF USR HR THEN PRINT;33;CHR® (2*SINCPI/6))
NEXT TIME...
More on UDG’s ... SPRITES ...
SRAM-HI#RES PHILOSOPHY
F-SAVE MAGIC ... MORE
al. ABACLUSYSFPREADSHEET
Mike de Sosa
One good indicator that QL Abacus COL
SPREADSHEET in the States) is a quality
program is the fact that, despite the proli-
feration of other software for the QL, there
is no other QL spreadsheet. It is a First-—
class professional computer program. The
Following is intended to go beyond the QL
Abacus documentation in the Sinclair QL User
Guide in helping you to optimize your use of
this excellent program.
TROUBLESOHE COMMANDS AND FUNCTIONS
Amend is intended to change the formula
in the current Ccursor) cell and other cells
sharing that formula. CThe Formula--or data
or text--is brought down onto the input line
where it may be modified and reentered.) It
is more efficient to change data or text in
a cell by just reentering it.
€opy is used to copy the contents of
one or a range of cells to another place on
the spreadsheet. Specify the cell or range
of cells to be moved, then the cell or upper
left cell of the new range of cells.
Formulas included will be adjusted For their
new locations.
Design is used to set various
parameters of the spreadsheet: the First
value shown after each parameter is the
value or option. If AUTO-CALCULATE
NEW BOOK
default
by
The Ultimate Resource
For Your Sinclair QL!
TAKING THE QUANTUM LEAP:
The Last Word on the Sinclair QL
by
Mike de Sosa
The only QL book to cover the lastest advances in hardware
and software. Chock full of useful programs and examples.
Fully illustrated, 280 pages. No QL owner should be without it!
$26.00
EXCLUSIVELY AVAILABLE FROM:
TIME DESIGNS
29722 Hult Rd.
Colton, Oregon 97017
U.S.A.
(503) 824-2658 (24 hour order line)
"TIPS"
PART I
on input is set to ”NO,” the command Xecute
is used to recalculate spreadsheet values.
CALCULATION order row or column only
pertains to the sequential order in which
Calculations are carried out, which will not
usually affect the outcome. GAPS between
lines on printer is a very useful but often
overlooked command. .
Echo is used to copy the data, Formula,
or text of a single cell to another cell or
a whole range of cells. Formulas are
adjusted.
Files offers a submenu of Five File™
handling options. You may import or export
data from/to other QL software programs and
other QL Abacus programs. Import/Export
operations are not complex, but they are a
little involved. Consult the @lL Abacus and
Information sections of the QL User Guide,
the HELP facility of QL Abacus, and Chapter
12 of my book, if you have it, regarding
such operations.
Grid is a key command used to modify
the spreadsheet grid in three ways: to
delete one or more rows or columns,
adjusting shared formulas; to insert one or
more new rows or columns, adjusting shared
Formulas but losing data and formulas in
rows at bottom or columns at right which are
pushed off of the spreadsheet; and to modify
DON’T
MISS OUT!
OOOOOoOOOOOONN
Cot
LJDOOOOOOOOIC
(=m\a)n/n/n/a(0(((s\clum(a)
OOOO OOO
Subscribe loday
only $16.95
year
TIME DESIGNS MAGAZINE CO.
29722 Hult Rd., Colton, OR 97017
eee — eee eon |
LC New subscription CJ Renewal
Name
Address
City
State Zip
i es face nee “cc “asses sn (ce cl
the width of one or more columns.
The Justify and Units commands work
Similarly: the former is used to modify the
default position of text or numbers in cells
and the latter to specify how numbers are
displayed within cells. In both cases, the
range of cells is specified and whether or
not the command applies to already Filled
cells Cselects CELLS) or empty cells within
that range (select DEFAULT).
Merge is used to combine data in two or
more identicallu formatted Spreadsheets; the
merged data may be added to or subtracted
From data in filled cells. Formulas are
lost. Since you may import and export data
between QL Abacus programs, this may prove a
more efficient or desirable way to do this.
Order is used to sort rows in ascending
order based on values in a specified column.
The ordering sequence is empty cells,
numeric cells, and text cells Cin alphabetic
order). In most cases, formulas are lost.
Note the various options available when
using the Priné command sequence.
Hindow is used to split the spreadsheet
horizontally or vertically into two movable
segments so as to better display cell
contents.
Xecute is used to recalculate all for-
mulas in a spreadsheet only if AaUurTo-
CALCULATE on input is not operative. It is
also used to restart a spreadsheet program
containing eskX) or eask&() Functions--in
any event.
An Abacus Function converts one or more
arguments into a returned value or performs
some other function; Abacus Functions must
be Followed by brackets, whether or not it
requires arguments.
Askrétext) and askt(text),
a prompt, request the input
text string, respectively.
Ave(range) returns the average of the
numeric cells within the specified range.
Count(range) returns the number of
Filled data and text cells within the speci-
fed range.
Max(range), mirntrange), and sum range?
return the largest, smallest, and sum of all
"text” being
of a number or
numbers in the specified range of cells,
respectively.
Daten), daystltext), Bronth(n), and
timev) may be used in many imaginative ways
in spreadsheets and spreadsheet programs.
If(numeric expression, true, false) re-
turns the "true” argument if the numeric
expression evaluates to other than zero or
the "false” argument LE the numeric
expression evaluates to zero. Text and
numeric true/false arguments may be mixed.
IRRrange,; period) calculates the in-
ternal rate of return--the equivalent inter-
est rate--for the numeric data in the speci-
Fied range Ceither a row or column segment).
This data represents a cash flow for each of
several payoffs separated by *period”
months--period is the number of months, that
is, a number. The example in the User Guide
is adequate, if you need more explanation.
Lookuplrange,offset,value) refers to an
established reference table in the spread-
sheet, returning a preset value corres-
ponding to the argument value. The Function
requires three arguments: renge is the row
or column segment containing the entering
argument, offset is the number of rows or
columns separating the renge and the row or
34
column segment containing the
preset Coutput) values, and
entering argument.
values must be
returned
value is the
Entering and output
numeric, the former in
ascending value. The example in the Abacus
HELP facility is adequate ae Further
explanation is needed.
NPUCrange, percent, period)
Net Present Value of cash
amount oF money which must be invested now
to produce a specified cash flow at some
Futuredate, assuming a given interest rate).
Three arguments are required: range is a row
or column segment containing cash deposits
returns) the
deposits Cthe
made at equal intervals of time, the period ;
perceré is the assumed interest rate. Once
again, the example in the User id is
adequate for a Fuller explanation.
THE BOTTOM LINE
QL Abacus is a powerful manipulator of
both text and numeric data which will prove
highly useful to you in almost any pursuit.
You may find it easier to lay out spread-
sheets in the following sequence: headings
and labels, first; formulas; data; and,
Finally, editing the format.
TIP: Setting the OL clock is important
to QL Abacus (Cand other programs). Amend
your QL Abacus “boot” program to include the
Following:
5 AT 6,5: INPUT “Set clock: YYYY,MM,DD,HH,
MN,SS’\y\R\d\b\n\s
6 SDATE y,a,d,h,m,s
NEH QL PRODUCT: SPECIAL EDITION EDITOR
Digital Precision’s The Editor, a text
editor program, was subtitled--somewhat
prematurely many felt--as "CHUCK QUILL OUT!”
It was not a WYSIWYG C”what you see is what
you get”) editor and had no printer driver.
BP’s improved text editor, Special Edition
Editor, For use on expanded QL’s, is still
not a WYSTWYG--why I don’t know--but it is a
most comprehensive text editor, much more
Flexible than QL Quill, and for those who
are sufficiently capable and wish to take
the trouble of learning a rather complex
system, this may be your cup of tea.
Special Edition Editor should be
especially useful to those who must
Frequently publish sizable documents such as
Time Designs Magazine. This is especially
true considering that it is designed to he
compatible with DP’s new Desktop
Publisher--said to be good on graphics but
less so on text.
Special Edition Editor is far too
complex to describe properly in a= short
article. It now has a most comprehensive
printer driver. Suffice it to say that most
of the shortcomings in The Editor have been
eliminated, that it has dozens of additional
Features, and that it will do just about
anything that you have in mind. For
expanded GL’s onlu! About $50 from Sharp’s.
But I still wouldn’t chuck Quill out.
For all of Quill’s faults, WYSIWYG is the
only way to Fly.
NEXT TIKEs QOL Easel/Business Graphics
"Tips,” plus more new QL products
information.
olTZ2ZLIN’
SUMMER SPECIALS
HERE IS JUST A SAMPLE OF THE GREAT SUMMER BUYS WE HAVE TO OFFER!
(ALL SALE ITEMS LIMITED TO STOCK ON HAND)
FREE REERE EERE TEESE ESSE ALLS AS SSS SSS SSS SSL ALL ASS SEL
RMG#422
RMGH421
RMGR4G9
RMG#ISS
RMG#HSS83
RMGH342
RMG#H613
RMGH249
RMNG#HS56
RMGHS6S
RMG#HS19
RMGHS22
RMNGH28S
RMGHSODP
RMGH364
RMGH365
RMG#288
RMG#269
RMNG#231
RMGH391
RMGH39S
RMGH419
RMG#289
A GAGS £3 f SMA
FORTY-NINER (HI-REZ GAME)
ZATRICATOR (HI-REZ GAME)
ROCKETMAN (HI-REZ GAME)
T/S 1616 16K RAMPAK (NEW)
TS1i89¢@ IDEA BOOK {NEW}
2668 KEYTOPS (PEEL & STICK)
NOVELSOFT-Z2XPERT
NOVELSOFT-TIMACHINE COMPILER
ARROW-MUSIC DESIGN 2999
ARROW-SCREENDESIGN
2968 ROM MANUSCRIPT BOOK
INTRO TO 28468 MACHINE LANGUAGE
@L ASSEMBLER PGM
QL TRIVIA QLUE
WD UTILITY PACKAGE
WD PROJECTOR PGM
@L DECISION MAKER PACKAGE
PC-IMPORT
@L MONITOR
@L SERIES BOOK MC PROGRAMMING
@SPELL
POINT BLANK-KARATE
EMPTY MDV WALLET (HOLDS 4)
REG.:% 9.95
REG.:& 9.95
REG.:% 9.95
REG. :$13.95
REG.:@ 4.95
REG.:% 2.99
REG.: $19.95
REG. : $19.95
REG. :%19.95
REG.'814.95
REG. :%16.95
REG. $16.95
REG. :%34.95
REG.: 19.95
REG. :$19.95
REG. :$14.95
REG. 5$34.95
REG.:&%39.95
REG. $$24.95
REG.:% 9.95
REG. $29.95
REG. :%$24.95
REG.:% 1.5¢
S 1.25
$16.09
$16.99
$14.95
11.95
$13.59
$13.58
KEKE EEE ERE LEEK EEE EEE RELIES LESSEE SEL ELSE EE EE
IF YOU WOULD LIKE A COPY OF QUR COMPLETE TS CATALOG,
PLEASE SEND $3.98 TO THE ADDRESS BELOW:
RMG ENTERPRISES
1419 1/2 7TH STREET
OQREGON CITY, OR 97945
383/655-7484
PLEASE: ADD $2/ITEM SH. TO MAX OF %6 TOTAL.
FOR ORDERS OUTSIDE THE CONTINENTAL US-ADD 5% FOR ADDED SHIPPING.
FOR CREDIT CARD ORDERS-ADD SURCHARGE OF 5% OF TOTAL ORDER.
BE SURE TO INCLUDE CARD # AND EXPIRATION DATE.
PLEASE INCLUDE TELEPHONE # WITH ORDER.
QL Support
Have you heard the latest? A rumor has been cir-
culating in Great Britain for a couple of months now,
that Amstrad is rethinking their position on the QL.
Amstrad executives have been keeping an eye on how the
QL aftermarket support has been developing. Also, it has
been common knowledge that Amstrad would like to market
a 32-bit machine. Using existing QL technology which
they obtained in a major buy-out of Sinclair last year,
would save the company thousands of dollars. Having an
established support base of software and add-ons is
another big plus. Some improvements including the re-
placement of the microdrives with a single built in disk
drive, have been discussed.
Digital Precision has just released their DESKTOP
PUBLISHER software package. It is reported to be a pro-
fessional program, with text editing features that rival
many similar programs available for the Apple MacIntosh
and IBM PCs. DESKTOP PUBLISHER is written
code and requires a minimum of 256K RAM.
dealers have the program.available for about $100.
Another Desktop program, FRONT PAGE, has
graded for use with additional RAM expansion cards.
in machine
Several U.S.
been up-
The
new version which incorporates extra ‘fonts and other
features, is called FRONT PAGE EXTRA.
The TRUMP CARD by Miracle Systems packs a lot of
punch in one circuit card that fits
into the QL ex-
pansion slot. When installed, it provides a full 896K
Qool QL
M.
Some of you who have never encountered heating
problems with your QL before, might discover that about
August 15, or the hottest day of the year, that your QL
will suddenly blank out. Actually, it is not quite so
"suddenly". There are usually small warning signals like
a ripple on the screen or the colors may start to
"swim". Unless you don't mind losing your data, once you
observe these symptoms, it is best to quickly save your
data, and turn the QL off for an hour or two.
If you take some of the precautions in this article
to heart, there is a good chance that you will never
have to worry about the heat problem. Indeed, if you are
running an unexpanded QL, without disk drives, or add-
itional memory, heat build up may be so minimal that you
will never encounter any problem at all. However, add a
disk drive, and you may run into problems.
Even if you do not currently have a heat problem,
remember that any heat, over time, is the number one
killer of all electronics. Static zaps a few, but heat
kills all chips sooner or later. Keeping your QL cool
can expand its life.
Rather than starting with the most complex fixes
first, I think it wise to attempt to correct the problem
with the smallest fix first. If that fails, then move
on to more elaborate repairs. So lets begin "outside"
the QL.
The first thing to do is, if your QL is not plugged
into a quality surge protector, PLUG IT INTO ONE NOW!
When doing so, make sure that the power cable running
from the surge protector to the QL is not on any car-
peting, nor is close to your monitor, or any potential
source of static. As an additional benefit, should the
power company decide to mess up your power, as they did
mine, your QL should be protected. (My power company
sent surges through my house that blew over 15 of my
appliances including the refrigerator, intercomms,
RAM, a disk interface (up to two drives), RAMdisk soft-—
ware, a print spooler, and Tony Tebby's TOOLKIT II soft-—
ware on an EPROM. Most U.S. QL dealers have the TRUMP
CARD in stock for around $300. Miracle Systems is also
working on. a MIDI Interface which will i
oe be ready sometime
OL 2
TRUMP CARD |
MERSOLE SYRTEMS
VINCENT LYON
radios, a VCR, the furnace and other goodies. But,
although my surge protector was burned, and no_ longer
functional, my QL and disk drives were untouched.)
Secondly, get to know the ventilation system on
your QL. If you look at the right side, just below the
microdrive ports, you will notice a small line of
openings. Beside being the speaker port, these openings
permit the inflow of air that is supposed to flow over
the heatsink, and exit on top at the rear. Noting that a
convection flow of this size has, at best, minimal
cooling capacity, NEVER PUT ANYTHING ON THE RIGHT TOP OF
THE QL. In a few tests I have made, one single sheet of
#20 Bond placed over the microdrives, raised the in-
ternal temperature 18 degrees. It not only insulated the
top of the case, it prevented the proper convection
flow.
If you have done the first two things, and still
encounter heat problems, there is a good possibility
that the problem can still be solved for about $20.00,
without opening the QL case. Run down to Radio Shack,
buy a 3" brushless 9VDC fan (part #273-243). They list
for $14.95, but have been on sale recently for $11.88.
This fan operates on 7 to 13.8 VDC and supplies 27 CFM
airflow. Then add a 9 volt power supply (part #277-1026)
for about $4.95, and any switch you wish (less than
$1.00), and you've got a system that should solve all
your problems.
Hook the fan, through the switch to the power
supply. Place it on your desk behind the QL, aimed at
the right side heat vent. Before you turn it on, feel
the cover over the microdrives. Turn on your fan and
wait about five minutes and feel the microdrive cover
again. It should now be cool to the touch.
While we are forcing the air ina reverse pattern
to the normal convection designed with the OL, the flow
is sufficient to really cool the QL, and possibly you as
well. Remember that if you aim the fan at the front of
the QL, you may be forcing dust into the microdrive
ports, which could create more problems than over-
heating.
I put one of these fans on line and put it through
a few tests. With the computer on, but idle, the in-
ternal temperature in the microdrive port was 104 de-
grees. After the fan had.been running for five minutes,
the temperature had dropped to 68 degrees. I then wrote
a program to format a microdrive 15 times, and measured
the temperature during the format (drives running create
heat). On the 15th format, the internal temperature was
still 73 degrees.
I have been advised that RMG Enterprises of Oregon
City, OR is in the design phase of a cooling fan system
designed specifically for the QL, and should run from
the QL's internal power. So, in the future, there may be
a system more efficient than this simple one. In the
meantime, this seems to be all that is available.
So far, we have found some simple ways to keep a
QOOL QL without resorting to opening the case and
fiddling around with the insides. If all these have
failed, and ONLY IF ALL THESE HAVE FAILED, then we are
forced to open up the QL and begin to tackle the problem
other ways.
The QL uses a one amp 7805 voltage regulator (you
will see it attached to the heat sink behind the micro-
drives). Since the voltage regularo is heat protected
(if it overheats, it shuts down), this, while maybe not
the cause of the problem, is certainly the heart of the
problem.
The important thing to remember is that simple
metal to metal contact is just not an efficient heat
transfer system. Metal must be somehow "bonded" to the
heatsink if heat is to transfer properly. At assembly,
many QLs suffered the same fates. The heatsink compound
used was of a type that dries and ages with heat, and
in adequate amounts of the compound were used. As a con-
sequence, the unfortunate voltage regulator is unable to
transfer its heat to the heatsink.
Fortunately, for us, the fix is simple. Remove the
heatsink from the voltage regulator. Scrape off any old
heatsink compound, and clean both surfaces as much as
posssible. Put a generous coat of any silicone based (it
doesn't dry or crack) heatsink compound on the voltage
regulator where it contacts the heatsink and _ reconnect
the two. This increase of thermal transfer will permit
the heat to flow to the fins of the heatsink, where your
fan can efficiently carry the heat away.
Now, even if you're running 640K and three disk
drives, you should have no heating problem. But, if you
continue to encounter problems, there is an additional
hardware fix published previously in QUANTUM LEVELS
(Vol 1, No 2) by Tom Woods. I don't recommend that you
attempt this fix unless all else has failed. It involves
installing an additional 7805 voltage regulator, a
capacitor and a diode to attempt solve the problem. The
single case that I know of that tried this method was
unsuccessul, probably because the simpler fixes, like a
power surge protector were not attempted first.
If you wish further information on the final hard-
ware fix, I suggest you contact Tom Woods at Quantum
Levels, PO Box 64, Jefferson, NH 03583.
Common sense however, demands that I state, if you
have done all outlined procedure, short of the hardware
fix, and you continue to have heat problem, you would be
well advised to contact A+ Computer Response and get a
replacement Q L. If the fan and heatsink compound don't
work, you may have serious problem. Historically, A+ has
not been really prompt in replacing defective QL's
(eight weeks is about standard), but right now, we users
seem stuck with that situation.
It may be possible that your QL dealer can provide
a temporary "back-up" OL for your use while yours is at
A+ for evaluation.
As a final thought, (seems like I'm talking to my
kid, now) I must stress the importance of cleanlinesss.
Dust blocked vents cannot do their job properly. It may
appear insignificant, but dust does inhibit air flow
essential to cooling. It also has great insulating
properties.
Here's hoping your QL is as QOOL as mine (knock on
wood).
Sharp’s, Inc.
Rt. 10, Box 459
Mechanicsville, VA 23111
(804) 746-1664 or 730-9697
COMPARE OUR PRICES!
QL Computer
512k RAM-Miracle
Trump Card
CST Disk I/F
Dual Quad-Density Disk Drives
Modapter Plus
Centronics I/F
Task Master
Front Page-Desk Top Publishing
CP/Mulator
Desktop Publisher by D.P.
$189.00
$148.95
$299.95
$ 99.95
$259.95
$ 49.95
$ 32.95
$ 35.95
$ 29.95
$ 54.95
$ 99.95
Adventure Writing System
Tank Busters
Dragon Hold
Super Charge
Q-Liberator
Advanced User Guide
Microdrive Cartridges (set of 4)
Microdrive Cartridges w/o tab
Schon Keyboard
Spellbound (The Best Spelling Checker)
$ 32.95
$ 24.95
$ 24.95
$ 69.95
$ 64.95
$ 27.95
$ 8.95
$ 6.95
$ 89.95
$ 45.95
(set of 4)
VISA & MASTERCARD ACCEPTED WITH 3% SURCHARGE. ALL PRICES INCLUDE SHIPPING.
WRITE FOR OUR NEW 6th EDITION CATALOG.
Get yourself organized with
ElectriQL
Desk
e full year appointment/scheduler
e 400 name address book w/phone numbers
© view or print any file
e network with other QLs
track your budget
compatible with ICE
easily transferred to disk
and MORE!
ElectriQL Desk is the only true desktop organizer for
the QL. Let your computer get your life organized.
A Peech ii Production available from:
Markel Enterprises ALL THIS FOR ONLY
4712 Avenue “N” $ 95
Suite 383 24 e
Brooklyn, NY 11234
or or your favorite QL dealer. If he doesn’t have it, ask why!
Time Designs Tests
by
Mike de Sosa
This article inaugurates a new series
in TDM: the most comprehensive report of the
testing of new hardware and software for the
Sinclair QL yet done in the states.
Each item reviewed will be awarded from
one to five stars, depending on its degree
oF usefulness and excellence, and ”"turkeys”
--those which I judge to he an affront to
the consumer--may be given a blivet (QO).
THE NEH TASKMASTER # # # # #
Sector Software’s ”latest” version of
their Five-star multitasking software,
TASKMASTER, is profoundly different from
earlier versions. AS many as eight OL soft-
ware programs may be multitasked at the same
time: the preset list of QL software pro-
grams to be executed is QUILL, ABACUS,
EASEL, ARCHIVE, ABACUS, and ABACUS. Only one
program of each type is actually loaded, but
Bach program executed has its own reserved
data/manipulation area in RAM. You may
choose your own set of QL (Psion) software
or other programs and dedicate an approp-
riate portion of RAM to each. A Full set of
Programs and utilities loads from disk in
about 20 seconds!
One major improvement in the new
version, and one which should be emulated by
other vendors, is that the original master
Program disk or cartridge need not be used
to boot TASKMASTER--a great leap forward!
Four new functions have been added to
the TASKMASTER Calculator module Cpowers of
numbers, percentages, etc.) and the final
result may be sent to a QL software program.
TASKMASTER has added a NotePad utility
which is called by keying ALT F4 Cwhich also
calls the COMMAND FILES moduled. You may
Load, Edit Cwrite), Save, Send Cto a soft-
ware program), Zap, or Print a note.
Perhaps the most far-reaching addition
to TASKMASTER is its Command module which
permits command Files consisting of up to
2000 keypresses to be "learned,” saved, and
later accessed. When accessed, the key-
Presses will be duplicated.
Two new SuperBASIC keywords, SCRON and
SCROFF, and a user definable print buffer.
Be sure to order version 2.35 with
serial number greater than 4000! About $36.
SPELLBOUND * ®% # *
SPELLBOUND is Sector Software’s new
spelling checker--and more! SPELLBOUND,
designed for use with OL Quill or Digital
Precision’s EDITOR and SPECIAL EDITOR on an
expanded QL, has Five levels of operation
Canging as the documentation states From the
"totally unobtrusive to absolutely
insistent.” CA star was withheld because
SPELLBOUND cannot be used to check a
completed document, but I am told a patch
will soon be published in Sinclair OL World
which will permit this.) SPELLBOUND utilizes
39
eR = aa
a 30,000 word dictionary to check your
manuscript as each letter is tuped. (This
does not in any way interfere with your
typing.) Additional words may be added up
to the memory limits of your machine, anda
list of correctly spelled words displayed on
which the correctly spelled word may be
indicated and sent to your document.
An audible and visual signal is given
when a mispelled word is typed. About S4S.
TOUCH TYPIST *# # * *
David Batty’s CSector Software) compre-
hensive typing tutor is the best instruc-
tional typing software for the QL. TOUCH
TYPIST has a 1200 word vocabulary, a e200
lesson format, an excellent tutorial, and
an on-screen keyboard. Lessons are easily
customized to Fit any style of teaching. It
even has a graph utility which reflects your
Cor each member of your class’s) highest
speed obtained on each of the lessons.
I didn’t give TOUCH TYPIST five stars
because it requires the original program
cartridge to be inserted in Microdrive 1,
which presents problems when booting From a
disk backup--no program that utilizes such
copy protection will ever get five stars
from me. A truly excellent version of one
of the most important instructional software
programs. A bargain at about $20.
Freddy Vaccha at Digital Precision has
come out with a whole new and revised family
of QL software: such things as TURBO (Ca
SuperBASIC compiler even more powerful than
DP’s SUPERCHARGE); DESKTOP PUBLISHER, per-
haps the Rolls-Royce of such software for
the QL; and revised versions of EYE-Q, THE
EDITOR, and SPECIAL EDITOR Cfor the expanded
QL). I have tested the latest EYE-Q and
SPECIAL EDITOR Cdozens of new features,
including a smart printer driver); both are
excellent.
TOUCH TYPIST
FOR THE SINCLAIR Q.L.
TYPING TUTOR
Sector Software
the
CLASSIFIED
FREE ADS FOR SUBSCRIBERS
FOR SALE: TS2068 and Aerco printer
interface; Flight Simulator & many
other cassettes...$100. TS1000,
modem, printer, terminal I/F for
HAM Rtty, CW, Wepax...for $100.
Call: Donn KAOSHOH (314) 832-8617
or write: 5814 Minnesota, St.
Louis, MO 631111.
FOR SALE: TIMEX 1000 Software.
Flight Simulator, The Gambler,
Supermaze, Cube Game, Checkbook
Manager. Must have 16K RAM. Best
Offer. Tim Kessler, 29 Wine St.;
Uniontown, PA 15401.
FOR SALE: TS2068 Computer with
3 different manuals, 2040 Printer,
Westridge Modem with 2 programs,
and Panasonic Tape Recorder. Have
8 programs. 2068 also has Spectrum
ROMSWITCH and RGB Cable. All in
like new condition. R.L. Sutton,
PO Box 280, Bronson, FL 32621
($200 for all).
MONEY MACHINE $12, Diamond Mike
515. 2068 Software on Aerco disk
or tape. New/used hard/soft-ware
for 1000 & 2068. 22-cent stamp
for catalog. Chia-Chi Chao, 73
Sullivan Dr., Moraga, CA 94556.
WANTED: Three DAMCO RAINBOW IN-
TERFACES (Spectrum Emulators) for
TS2068. Leslie E. Kulberg, Rt 2,
Fayetteville, TN 37334, telephone
(615) 433-1050.
FOR SALE: ALPHACOM 32 Printer,
w/ interface & power supply $30.
Textwriter 64, Artworx V1.1, Zeus
Assembler, Ckt. Bd. Scramble (all
for 2068) $40 for all, or trade
for full Aerco W/P. W. Flower,
1804 Vincennes St. #22, North-
ridge, CA 91325.
THE WILD WEST ADVENTURE for 16K
ZX81 or TS1000/1500. Machine code
and BASIC. Cassette with full
printed instructions: $10.00.
Larry Dietrich, P.O. Box 13, Blanca,
CO 81123.
WANTED-MICROPROLOG, complete as
noted in the JAN/FEB 1987 TIME
DESIGNS. Send postpaid price to
R. Steensen, 1010-H2 Green Pine,
West Palm Beach, FL 33409.
Do you have some equipment or a program that you would like to sell? Looking for something hard to find? Place an
ad in THE CLASSIFIEDS! Subscribers can place one free personal ad in each issue. Ad size is 32 Col. wide (like 2040
paper) and maximum of six lines. For additional lines - $3 each. NON-SUBSCRIBERS and DEALERS: $4 a line.
DEADLINE FOR ALL CLASSIFIED ADS: Two weeks before publication date. Mail your ad to:
TIME DESIGNS MAGAZINE, The Classifieds Dept.,
BONDS.
FRACTAL- Mathematically based Graphics includes Mandelzooa |
Floating pt. & Fixed pt. calculation. Fixed is 10% faster’! |
Three functions included: Nandelzoom, Peanozaoa & Circle*2 |
Screen compression Zoos, Recolour, Flip, Epson Screen Dumps |
On adv or 5.25 disk(spec.tpi) for US#19.95 + $2.88 shipping |
META MEDIA PROD. 726 WEST 17th, VAN., BC, CANADA, V5Z 179
SSSSeS
SSS
29722 Hult Rd., Colton, Oregon 97017.
FAnNTABULOAUS
Pichia.
BY MIKE FINK... .B2eO
AMY? AND SLL QUESTIONS IN-
VOLVING MONEY, TIME AND INTEREST
CAN BE SOLVED ON YOUR 20468 WITH
JUST A PUSH OF A KEY!!
ANNUITIESS AMORTIZATIONSs SINKING
FUNDS; MORTGAGESS SIMPLE INTERESTS
COMPOUND INTEREST;AUTOMOBILE PAY
MENTS; XMAS CLUBS; IRA’S; GOV’T
ALSO,YOQU CAN COMPARE THE
COSTS OF RENTING OR BUYING!!
THIS PROGRAM IS SOQ SIMPLE THAT
THE 2 PAGE INSTRUCTION MANUAL IS
CALLED AN “EXPLANATION MANUAL’.
ALLOW 2 WEEKS TO RECEIVE TAPE.
SEND MONEY TO PITRE FENK
Ww. SPth
Mow. LOOCTS-—-1401
hE WwW
DESKTOP PUBLISHER for 2068. Two
Versions: Vers 1 works on all dot
matrix printers. Vers 2 works on
Olivetti 2300 printer. $19.95 &
$24.95 (+ 1.25 postage). Send
SASE for samples. Charles Stelding
1415 S. Baxter, Tyler, TX 75701.
WANTED: TS—2050 Modem manual. Nick
Oshana, 187 Morningside Dr. East,
Bristol, CT 06010.
2068 PLOTTING w/Commodore 1520
4-color HI-RES printer/plotter!
The I/F hard/software is available
from John McMichael, 1710 Palmer
Drive, Laramie, WY 82070. Send
SASE for complete info & sample
plot.
FOR SALE: TS1000 in metal cabinet
with keyboard, Westridge modem,
Aerco C.P. interface, Memotech 64K
RAM. Send for complete hardware
and Software list to: Richard Beier,
1 Darwin Dr., N. Merrick, NY
11566.
WANTED: Low Price TS1000 computer,
2040 printer power supply, and
modem hardware & software and re-
lated items. Call or write: Brian
Cornelius, 221 Walnut Lane, Apple
Valley, MN 55124, (612) 932-4430.
TABLES
= T .«
YoRE
DESETOF FUELISHIWG - THE AEILITY
PR DL e * Liat & =
MQTHER DDCUM ew TS
AHO GRAPHICS HAS
YUichita
their prograam line.
enables TS 28668
users to design and print their
customized HEYSLETTERS and other
documgents using a Wide Variety
of FOHT styles and sizes, pictures
Cgraphics}?,; and layouts.
include:
rome ores
fee TS 2
TS 2668 BOLD,
HOCERR. CHANCES nae PLUS,
you have the abilitu to LOAD and
use otner custom made FOHTS.
BRAPHICS Cpictures)s can be
from any T5 2468 progras
tine SCREEHS rotocol.
L SKETCH and GRAPHICS
VW is recosmended!>
a TWIH colusn
A-EPSOH/STAR
ATRIX Printers,
Uses the AERCO
odrive CPIs.
WAS CESIGNEO WITH THE
1) EL FRINT Cesktor FueLrsHer
Get YOUR PIEREL PRINT now from:
LEMKE SOF Tu ARE CE VELCEMENT
cildd WHITE Gak
WICHITA, Ks, BVZOT
Pixel PRInT Just SiS5] rec,
> D Lemke
| 2ldd White Oak
Wichita, Ks.
57287
EONT
SOFTWARE,
CWichita, Ks? - Desktop Clip Art
and Font support announced!
Lemke Software and Mountaineer
Software have iogined forces to
provide the user the
best utility Support Possible
with the PIAEL PRINT Q
of Yesktorm Clip art
and the PIXEL PRINT E
@ collection of 6 HEY fonts.
The PI:
is a collectian of 3
and aver i188 ICOHS!
Ri> ICON LIBRARY AAHAGER allows
you to browse a library of 115
ICGHS, adjust its size, location
and place a frame around it.
#2> ICOH DESIGHER PROGRAM gives
you the ability to sake =
your own ¢€custom) ICONS ;
or modify existins anes |
This is a hiagh quality
design program tailored
for ICOHS. ¢tJoustick
based, fast, fun!?
H3> COLOSSUS BANHER
Conversion, converts
these ICOGHS to the low-
resolution format for
COLOSSUS BAHHERS.
The PIXEL PRINT FONT PACKAGE
a collection of d &
new FOHTS. HOTE:
compatible with
and GRAPHICS ED
COLOSSUS GRAPHI
as well as the
e
Bi> FOHT DESIGHE
design your own F
existing FOHTS! I
librarian allowin
@ library of up to FOHTS.
#2> FULL SIZE PRINTER FONT
BDESIGHER and DOWNLOADER prosgraa.
This utilituyu is an all BASIC
Program written to design and to
download FOHTS to a STAR (€S6-183
Printer. It is only intended as
an example for others who wish
to explore this aspect of FOHTS.
The 6 new FONTS are:
HEACLINE, TEM, MCR,
icbtire. GULL ae: cvs
CHost of this ad was written in
the BOLD-IBS FOHT.>
Get YOUR PIXEL PRINT a
utility packages from LE
dust £19.95 each (¢p
Cpictures3),
programs
ie)
a
£
T
rDA Is
oe
I
Cc
D P Publisher
lovs you to
» or sodify
also a FOHT
u_to browse
ie OFC OME
H
rT
ni
£
h
0
B
Ss
R
0
t
9g
hot
SM @o
WEYMIL presents...
A small collection of truly innovative products for Sinclair computers
Introducing the
Delta Device
The Non-Volatile Memory System
for the TS 1000
Tne DELTA DEVICE is the newest addition to our
family of TS 1000 products. It is a complete non-volatile
memory system (NVMS} designed by Mr. Wilf Rigter. The
DELTA DEVICE is a full 32K non-volatile memory board
featuring the Rigter Operating System (ROS). We feel the
features of this product make it a significant advance in
TS 1000 technology.
THE HARDWARE
The board measures 3!/2” x 3”. It uses only two chips.
It is supplied fully assembled. There is a built-in write
protect switch to avoid accidental erasure of data. The
32K is divided in four 8K blocks which are individually
controlled via DIP switch for mapping to various memory
map locations. A long-life battery preserves memory con-
tents. The circuitry has been designed to greatly reduce
the risk of data loss caused by removing the unit from
the computer. This makes the system very transportable.
The board utilizes a standard feed-through connector.
Memory control is extended to both 16K and 32K ram-
packs. Bank switch applications are supported. There is
built in hardware compatibility with THRUST and other
hi-res programs. The hardware has four times the capacity
and more flexibility than other similar memory enhance-
ment products.
RIGTER OPERATING SYSTEM
The NVMS concept is completed by the RIGTER
OPERATING SYSTEM (ROS]. This is a full powered file
handling system. Utilizing less than 600 bytes, ROS has
these features. DIRECTORY displays all programs stored
in memory by name and length in bytes. You have 44
entries per directory. SAVE transfers BASIC programs,
variables, and machine code to storage. It works in con-
junction with the NAME/RENAME features. LOAD
transfers those programs to their normal RUN areas.
MERGE allows the joining of two BASIC programs or
varible files. EXIT allows you to quit ROS to an auto-run
program or the command line. ERASE deletes programs
from system memory and automatically moves other
programs to fill the space left behind. This eliminates blank
areas of memory between files. File selection is accom-
plished using cursor movement. ROS utilizes terminate-
and-stay-resident protocols. It is called from the command
line by simply pressing REM followed by ENTER.
There are further enhancements to the ROS core.
CLEAR DIRECTORY allows initialization of selected sec-
tions of memory while leaving others intact. RENUMBER
is anatural companion to the MERGE feature. UNMERGE
deletes blocks of BASIC programs. The comprehensive 15
page manual includes instructions for adding more direc-
tories and “hot keys.”
APPLICATIONS
The DELTA DEVICE has many possible applications.
Auser can have programs such as NOVA, THRUST, MINI-
XMOD, KRUNCHER, and a word processor instantly
available with plenty of room left over. Other TS 1000
NVM devices can’t equal that capacity. You can easily
enhance the ROM by mapping a section of the NVMS
into the ROM area. You can now design a customized
prompt, develop hi-res graphics, or install a high speed
tape loader all accessible using the regular command keys.
Programmers will appreciate the ability to have more than
one operating system available on the same machine.
Imagine having one machine with FORTH, PASCAL, and
the standard operating system instantly available.
We are sure that you will agree that Wilf Rigter’s
DELTA DEVICE is an incredible amount of power in a
tiny package.
THE DELTA DEVICE NVMS for the TS 1000 $75.00
Shipping and handling $5.00
WEYMIL CORPORATION
Box 5904
BELLINGHAM, WA 98227-5904
Live Music
Archive
Librivox
Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland
Museum of Art
Internet
Arcade
Console Living Room
Open Library
American
Libraries
TV News
Understanding
9/11